Wicked Halo romps in Raven Run Stakes

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Some 90 minutes after a winner’s circle visit at Keeneland, the same cast of human characters was back for another round of wide smiles when Wicked Halo romped to a four-length triumph Saturday in the Grade 2, $334,500 Raven Run Stakes.

Only the horse was different, although this one, too, is a 3-year-old by Gun Runner. Wicked Halo, a Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred filly, was surrounded by trainer Steve Asmussen and the rest after likely running her way into the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint with her fourth straight stakes victory.

The Raven Run, the ninth of 10 races, followed its male counterpart, the Perryville (race 6), which was won in similarly dominating fashion by Gunite for Winchell and Asmussen. Tyler Gaffalione was aboard both winners.

“The fact they’ve thrived with racing and have continued to get better is so rare,” Asmussen said. “I think she and Gunite are very similar in the fact they’ve accepted their jobs and continuously gotten faster. We’re very fortunate to have them.”

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Wicked Halo got the same kind of perfect stalking trip that Gunite got in winning the Perryville. Always close to the pace after breaking from the outside post, the gray filly widened down the lane for her sixth win in 10 career starts. She paid $7.04 as favorite in a field of nine after finishing seven furlongs in 1:24.30 over a fast track.

Fingal’s Cave, the standout New York-bred who entered unbeaten in four starts, rallied from last to get second by a neck over Midnight Stroll. Freedom Speaks faded to fourth after disputing the pace to the quarter-pole.

On another mostly sunny and pleasant afternoon, and before perhaps the largest crowd of the fall meet, Smash Ticket and Freedom Speaks sped out early in the 24th Raven Run, with Wicked Halo and Midnight Stroll not far behind. In the upper stretch, Midnight Stroll was closest to Wicked Halo, but it was no contest the rest of the way.

“She did it very easily,” Gaffalione said. “It was a lot of fun today.”

The BC Filly and Mare Sprint follows just two weeks later at Keeneland, with pre-entries for all BC races due Monday. Winchell, as co-owner, and Asmussen already have another 3-year-old filly, Echo Zulu, as one of the contenders for the seven-furlong Filly and Mare Sprint.

There is recent precedent for a Raven Run winner to wheel back in two weeks to win the Filly and Mare Sprint, with Shamrock Rose having done it in 2018.

Wicked Halo now has won five stakes, including the Grade 2 Adirondack last year and the Grade 2 Prioress at Belmont Park in her most recent start before the Raven Run.

The $2 exacta (8-5) paid $35.44, the $1 trifecta (8-5-9) returned $95.68, and the 10-cent superfecta (8-5-9-7) was worth $45.17.

*** The Grade 3 Dowager is the Sunday feature at Keeneland, with Temple City Terror a lukewarm morning-line favorite in a field of 11 fillies and mares going 1 1/2 miles on turf. More terrific weather is in the local forecast.

The 17-day meet runs through next Saturday (Oct. 29). Churchill Downs then will work the first four days of its fall meet (Oct. 30, Nov. 2, 3, 6) around the Nov. 4-5 Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland.

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