Raise Cain relishes cutback in Perryville

Raise Cain began his career in September 2022 and has raced every month since then barring November. That is a very demanding schedule and the colt’s trainer, Ben Colebrook, said this week he’d been looking for Raise Cain to offer signs he was ready for a break. None forthcoming, Raise Cain kept running, and on Saturday at Keeneland he looked as fresh as ever wearing down favored Dr. Venkman to win the $235,188 Perryville Stakes by a head.

Ground loss might have made all the difference in the Perryville, a seven-furlong dash for 3-year-olds. Dr. Venkman, winner of his first two starts, shipped from California to make his stakes debut and was the somewhat surprising 6-5 favorite over 8-5 Verifying. Dr. Venkman broke a touch slow from post 5 and wound up three paths off the fence around the entire turn, pressing rail-drawn Verifying and sharp layoff horse Confidence Game through moderate splits of 22.50 and 45.69.

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Meanwhile, Luis Saez had Raise Cain glued to the fence, following Verifying down the backstretch and around the turn until Saez wheeled out before the 5/16-pole. The two pacesetters flagging, Dr. Venkman took the lead in upper stretch, soon joined on the outside by Raise Cain. The pair volleyed through the final furlong, Raise Cain with his 12 starts eventually doing slightly better than lightly raced Dr. Venkman.

“I think Luis Saez made the difference today,” said Colebrook, who trains Raise Cain for Andrew Warren and Rania Warren. “He rode him great.”

Maryland shipper Post Time, rallying solidly from last of six, was along for third, 1 1/2 lengths behind the top two and more than five in front of fourth place Loyal Company. Verifying, showing the effects of a long campaign that Raise Cain somehow has avoided, faded to fifth, Confidence Game a distant sixth. Winning time over a fast track was 1:23.58 and Raise Cain paid $14.88.

Besides running a shorter distance than the second-place finisher Saturday, Raise Cain benefited from turning back to an extended sprint from a long series of route races. Raise Cain finished a respectable eighth in the Kentucky Derby and nibbled at the edge of rich stakes purses in route races through the summer. His wins, however, have come in a seven-furlong maiden race a year ago at Keeneland, in the one-turn mile Gotham, and now in the Perryville.

“I think it’s probably what he wants to do,” Colebrook said, referring to one-turn racing.

Raise Cain is by Violence out of Lemon Belle, by Lemon Drop Kid, and Colebrook said Thursday that regardless of outcome, he’d get some time off following the Perryville. Raise Cain, a veritable iron horse in an era of brittle beasts, might not even need it.

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