Keeneland Graded Stakes this week
Here’s a list of Keeneland’s Graded Stakes for the balance of the week. Previews will be added as they become available via Keeneland.com
● Thurs., Oct. 20 – G3 Sycamore
● Fri., Oct. 21 – G3 Pin Oak Valley View
● Sat., Oct. 22 – G2 Lexus Raven Run
● Sun., Oct. 23 – G3 Rood & Riddle Dowager
Elizabeth Voss Looks to Follow Father with Sycamore Win
LEXINGTON, KY (Oct. 19) If Merriebelle Stable’s Renown (GB) wins Thursday’s Sycamore (G3), he will become an interesting footnote in Keeneland history. The 5-year-old gelding is trained by Elizabeth Voss, whose late father, Thomas, won the 2008 Sycamore with Always First (GB). A triumph would make the Vosses the first father-daughter duo to win the same Keeneland stakes.
But it would not be the first time. The younger Voss accomplished the feat in July when Renown took Delaware Park’s Cape Henlopen, a race her father won with millionaire John’s Call in 2001. She said she has won the same steeplechase races as her father on several occasions.
“It’s always nice to run in the same races my dad ran in,” Elizabeth Voss said after watching Renown get acquainted with Keeneland’s track and Saddling Paddock Wednesday morning.
She was not present when Always First won the Sycamore, but Voss is no stranger to the Lexington area. She worked on the administrative side of Three Chimneys Farm in nearby Midway for eight years before returning to her family’s Elkton, Md., training facility following the death of her father at age 63 in 2014. The farm has an indoor dirt track, six-furlong all-weather track and several options for turf gallops.
The Voss name is synonymous with top-shelf steeplechases, but the family has had plenty of success in flat racing. Elizabeth Voss currently trains about 20 steeplechase runners and six flat horses. With the exception of their summer sojourn at Saratoga Race Course, her trainees are at a race meeting only for the few days before and after their scheduled starts.
“It is great to be at Keeneland, especially in the mornings,” said Voss, whose recent Keeneland starter, Paris Vegas, was beaten a nose in an allowance race two years ago.
Renown comes to the Sycamore following his one-length victory in the Laurel Turf Cup at the Sycamore distance of 1½ miles on turf. The son of Champ Elysees (GB) will be ridden by Maryland-based Angel Cruz, who won Keeneland’s Darley Alcibiades (G1) aboard Dancing Rags on Oct. 7.
UNDEFEATED LUCY N ETHEL TOPS DEEP FIELD OF 12 FOR SATURDAY’S LEXUS RAVEN RUN.
LEXINGTON, KY (Oct. 19) J A G Racing and Jettany Thoroughbred Corp.’s undefeated homebred Lucy N Ethel will attempt to run her unblemished ledger to five on Saturday when she headlines a field of a dozen 3-year-old fillies in the 18th running of the $250,000 Lexus Raven Run (G2).
The seven-furlong dirt sprint will go as the ninth race on Saturday’s 10-race program with a 5:30 p.m. ET post time.
Lucy N Ethel will be making her first start for new trainer Tom Amoss. In her most recent start, she returned from an eight-month layoff to win the Prioress (G2) at Saratoga. The Prioress was her second graded stakes score following the Old Hat (G3) at Gulfstream in January.
Corey Lanerie will have the mount on Lucy N Ethel and break from post position four.
One familiar face from the Prioress returns to challenge Lucy N Ethel. Shadwell Stable’s Takrees, who rallied from far back to finish third beaten 3¼ lengths, will try again. Trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, Takrees will break from post position 11 and be ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr.
Adding to the depth of the field is the presence of graded stakes winners Lightstream and Covey Trace.
Up Hill Stable and Head of Plains Partners’ Lightstream won the Adena Springs Beaumont (G3) here in the spring and followed that with a turf stakes victory, a third in the Mother Goose (G1) and a second in the Test (G1). Trained by Brian Lynch, Lightstream will be ridden by Julien Leparoux and break from post position 12.
Covey Trace, a winner of two consecutive races, took the Charles Town Oaks (G3) in her most recent start for co-owner and trainer William Denzik Jr. Brian Hernandez Jr. has the mount on Covey Trace and will break from post position one.
The field for the Lexus Raven Run, with riders and weights from the inside, is: Covey Trace (Hernandez Jr., 118 pounds), Ma Can Do It (Channing Hill, 118), Grace’s Treasure (Jesus Castanon, 118), Lucy N Ethel (Lanerie, 120), Southern Girl (Florent Geroux, 118), Bellamentary (Martin Garcia, 118), Malibu Stacy (Gabriel Saez, 118), Curlin’s Approval (Tyler Gaffalione, 118), Coniah (Joe Bravo, 118), Sophia’s Song (Robby Albarado, 118), Takrees (Santana Jr., 118) and Lightstream (Leparoux, 120).