Restless Rider, Royal Charlotte top deep renewal of the Raven Run

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Raven Run Stakes isn’t normally a prep for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, although Shamrock Rose did defy the odds in sweeping both races last year at 18-1 and 25-1.

Nobody is expecting another lightning strike this year. With just two weeks between the races, only the most unusual of circumstances would move the Raven Run winner along to Santa Anita for a quick wheel-back in the Nov. 2 Filly and Mare Sprint.

With or without Breeders’ Cup implications, it can be argued that the Grade 2, $250,000 Raven Run on Saturday at Keeneland has drawn one of the deepest fields in its 21-year history. The two favorites, Royal Charlotte and Restless Rider, are fillies of serious accomplishment, and the supporting cast in the seven-furlong race includes such talents as Horologist and Irish Mischief.

Then there are unknowns such as Indian Pride, a sensational winner of her lone start, and First Star, a California shipper putting a 2-for-2 record on the line. Eleven 3-year-old fillies go.

“We knew this wouldn’t be an easy spot when we started pointing to it,” said Kenny McPeek, trainer of Restless Rider. “But this is a fast, classy filly, and we’ve got a lot of faith in her.”

Restless Rider won the Grade 1 Alcibiades here last fall and had been entrenching herself as one of the most consistent and capable runners in the 3-year-old class before finishing a stunningly bad 13th of 14 in her last start, the May 3 Kentucky Oaks. After a thorough examination and regrouping, the gray Distorted Humor filly has been pronounced healthy and ready to roll again.

“We’ll see what direction this race takes us in,” said McPeek.

Brian Hernandez Jr. once again will be aboard Restless Rider when she breaks from post 6.

Win, lose, or dead heat, the Breeders’ Cup is not being considered for Restless Rider, nor for the Chad Brown pair of Royal Charlotte and Indian Pride.

Royal Charlotte (post 1, Tyler Gaffalione) has won all but one of her six starts, with the Grade 1 Test providing her lone blemish. The gray daughter of the young sire Cairo Prince upset the previously unbeaten Break Even in winning the Grade 2 Prioress on closing weekend at Saratoga in her most recent outing.

“She’s trained very well here at Belmont Park since the Prioress,” Brown said this week by phone. “We flew her down Monday to join our other horses.”

Indian Pride (post 3, John Velazquez), owned and bred by former Kentucky Gov. Brereton C. Jones, arrived here Oct. 2 with the earlier Brown shippers. The daughter of Proud Citizen scarcely could have been more impressive in her Aug. 30 unveiling at Saratoga, winning off by eight lengths to earn a 90 Beyer Speed Figure, which compares favorably with the other top contenders here.

Brown considered a first-level allowance for Indian Pride before deciding she might well be ready for something as daunting as this.

“Obviously she’s got a lot of ability,” he said.

First Star (post 8, Drayden Van Dyke) arrived here Tuesday and will be taking what amounts to a substantial class raise after quickly going through her first two conditions this summer at Del Mar, earning 92 and 88 Beyers.

“She surprised me that she could win sprinting first out because she’d given me the impression she was a router,” said trainer Ron Ellis. “We might be rushing her a little bit, but numbers-wise, she fits. She’s a very classy-acting filly, so I had no problem shipping.”

Horologist (post 9, Joe Bravo) is making her first start since There’s a Chance Stable sold partial interest in her to three other ownership partners. Now trained by Richard Baltas, the New Jersey-bred filly has won five of 11 starts, with her most notable victory coming in the Grade 3 Monmouth Oaks.

Irish Mischief (post 11, Mike Smith), a last-out runner-up as the favorite in the Grade 3 Charles Town Oaks, has been first or second in seven of nine starts, all for Brad Cox, whose 2019 stable earnings stand at more than $13 million.

Rounding out the lineup are Bell’s the One, Oxy Lady, Free Cover, Istan Council, and Needs Supervision.

The Raven Run, first run in 1999, had been won by such standouts as Sightseek (2002), Informed Decision (2008), and Taris (2014) before Shamrock Rose punctuated its importance last fall. It’s the ninth of 10 Saturday races on a card that starts at 1:05 p.m. Eastern and includes three allowances (races 3, 8, 10). The feature goes at 5:30 p.m. and is part of a late pick four (races 7-10) with a $300,000 pool guarantee.

Another beautiful fall day is in store, with sunny skies and a high of 72 in the forecast.