LEXINGTON, Ky. – Last year at age 3, Alva Starr, Red Carpet Ready, and Vahva were Grade 2 winners. This year, they’ll try to better that, starting when they meet in the Grade 1, $600,000 Madison Stakes on Saturday at Keeneland. The seven-furlong Madison has been won by Eclipse Award champion female sprinters Informed Decision (2009), Groupie Doll (2012), Judy the Beauty (2014), and Goodnight Olive (2023). Vahva, who bested both Alva Starr and Red Carpet Ready last year, found her best stride toward the end of 2023 and has an affinity for Keeneland. After finishing third in the Grade 3 Victory Ride at Belmont Park, Vahva won the Grade 3 Charles Town Oaks at seven furlongs. She then wore down Alva Starr for a half-length victory in the Grade 2 Raven Run during the Keeneland fall meet. The two were more than a dozen lengths clear of the rest of the field. “It took her a little while to mature, both physically and mentally,” trainer Cherie DeVaux said. “She’s the type of horse where we had to really keep an eye on her as we were stringing together her races – she’d get a little light. . . . She’s got a lot more substance this year. She’s really filled out, put on a lot of muscle, a lot of weight.” A shipping issue prevented Vahva from running in the Grade 1 La Brea in California toward the end of the season, and she is coming off a more than five-month layoff in the Madison. DeVaux acknowledged that Alva Starr and Red Carpet Ready have a recency edge, both having their season debuts. :: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.  “She’s coming off a longer layoff than what we’d hoped,” DeVaux said. “She might need the race. It’s hard to come off that type of layoff and then run your best race against – it’s a smaller field, but it’s very good. “She’s going to have to run her top race. Trying to manage our own expectations of our performance. . . . But she looks fantastic and she’s training great, and that’s all we can ask for.” Red Carpet Ready won the Grade 3 Forward Gal and Grade 2 Eight Belles last spring, but was an uncharacteristic seventh in the Victory Ride. She exited the race with what trainer Rusty Arnold described as “a minor issue that we got taken care of.” She came off the layoff to drive to a half-length win in the Grade 3 Hurricane Bertie on March 9 at Gulfstream Park. Alva Starr, trained by Brett Brinkman, has not been worse than second in seven starts. She won the Grade 2 Prioress last September at Saratoga before finishing second in the Raven Run. In her 2024 debut, she was an easy 3 1/2-length winner of the American Beauty on Feb. 3 at Oaklawn Park. Alva Starr will likely go for the lead, with Vahva, drawn well on the outside, and Red Carpet Ready not far behind. Alva Starr is likely to be joined on the front end by Hot and Sultry and Icicles. Hot and Sultry was a front-running winner of the Grade 3 Chilukki at a one-turn mile last fall. She will be cutting back after a pair of two-turn stakes efforts at Oaklawn. Icicles has been showing speed in one-mile races at Turfway Park. :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. California-bred Big Pond, making her first foray outside her home state, also could provide pace pressure and will break just outside Alva Starr. Big Pond was second by a nose in the La Brea after pressing the pace. Most recently, she won the Spring Fever over statebreds. Grade 2 winner Maryquitecontrary was a strong second in last year’s Madison to Goodnight Olive. New York-bred stakes winner Sterling Silver, disqualified after crossing the line first in last fall’s Grade 2 Gallant Bloom, completes the eight-horse field. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.