Keeneland
No shortage of contenders in Valley View
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Anybody with a particular itch for 3-year-old fillies should have no problem getting it scratched at Keeneland this weekend. Two graded stakes are on tap in the division, with the Grade 3 Valley View anchoring the Friday card and the Grade 2 Raven Run assuming the spotlight Saturday.
The $150,000 Valley View, a 1 1/16-mile turf fixture, drew a well-matched field. Super Freaky would be a logical choice, considering her solid West Coast form and other favorable factors, but trainer Doug O'Neill also entered her in the Raven Run and said Wednesday he was still undecided about which race to run the filly.
If in fact Super Freaky is declared, then start flipping the coins. Bachata, a Kingmambo filly trained by Graham Motion, clearly ranks among the contenders, having improved to the point that she enters on a four-race win streak after starting her career with as many defeats. In her last start, Bachata captured her stakes debut, the Twin Lights at Monmouth Park, so the move into the Valley View may represent a step up in class.
Bachata, with Ramon Dominguez to ride, was assigned post 4.
Another risking a modest win streak is Long Approach, a Jonathan Sheppard-trained filly with three straight Delaware Park scores to her credit. Long Approach, with Jamie Theriot to ride, will break from the inside post.
Other logical contenders include Testama, a French import who closed mildly when fifth in her Stateside debut in the Pucker Up at Arlington last month; Callwood Dancer, who bypassed the tougher Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup last Saturday in favor of the Valley View; Audacious Chloe, winner of the Appalachian Stakes here in the spring for the Todd Pletcher stable; Stormy West, an improving filly who narrowly missed in a recent overnight stakes at Belmont for trainer Bill Mott; and You Go West Girl, who seeks to rebound off a subpar try in the Pucker Up.
Fourteen were entered, although only as many as 12 can start in turf races here.
Two allowances (races 7 and 8) directly precede the Valley View on a 10-race card.
As deep as the Valley View looks, the $300,000 Raven Run is all that and more. The seven-furlong race drew 14 starters, the maximum allowed in stakes run on Polytrack.