Velázquez expertly rides Vahva to win Raven Run at Keeneland

In his nearly 52 years of life and 34 years of professionalrides, Hall of Fame jockey John Velázquez has figured out a thing or two about howto craft a winning trip.

With a reputation for being one of the best front-runningriders of all time, Velázquez is not without the savvy to stalk a hot paceearly and seize the moment late. His victory on Vahva in Saturday’s Grade 2,$350,000 Raven Run Stakes for 3-year-old fillies going seven furlongs on theKeeneland main track was a perfect example.

“Honestly, our strategy was to try to get as close as we canto the horse on the lead,” Velázquez said after Vahva (5-2) caught pacesetting,odds-on favorite Alva Starr (4-5) in the last 70 yards and beat her by ahalf-length. “I got her out running, and she responded.”

The daughter of Gun Runner who made her graded-stakesbreakthrough Aug. 25 in winning the Charles Town Oaks (G3) was smack dab in themiddle of the seven-horse pack Saturday while Alva Starr blazed early fractionsof 22.61 and 45.48 seconds and 1:10.05 on the main track rated fast.

Going into the turn on asunny, windy, 73-degree day, only three lengths separated the top six. Velázquezdecided this was where the rubber would meet the road.

“Everybody kind of gathered up going to the three-eighthspole,” he said. “I wanted to make sure I held my position. I wasn’t about togive up my position where I was.”

Vahva actually moved forward to third as Velázquez tipped heroutside. While she made her charge at Alva Starr, the rest of the field gaveway, and it was a two-horse race to the finish.

With the experience of two wins and a close second in herprevious seven-furlong starts, Vahva wore down Alva Starr, whose five races beforethis weekend were six furlongs each.

“My filly got tired,” said Tyler Gaffalione, Alva Starr’s fifthdifferent jockey. “I can understand that. She’s never gone seven. That was theeasiest she has ever gone that early, so that could be the only answer.”

The Lord Nelson filly who won the Prioress (G2) by 8 3/4 lengthsSept. 2 at Saratoga still fought to the finish, so trainer Brett Brinkman wasnot ready to give up on trying her again at the same distance.

“We were up against a new factor coming into this race,” hesaid. “I’m not running away from seven-eighths. I’m not scared of seven-eighths.”

Neither is winning trainer Cherie DeVaux, who made thedecision to send Vahva back into graded-stakes company last month in West Virginiaafter she ran a distant fourth in the February running of the Rachel Alexandra (G2) atFair Grounds and a closer third to the late Maple Leaf Mel on July 8 in theVictory Ride (G3) at Belmont Park.

The filly owned by a big partnership led by Porsche Brooks’sBelladonna Racing had been ticketed for a start this summer at Saratoga.

“We were targeting the Test (G1), and she just wasn’ttraining well up into that,” DeVaux said. “The Charles Town race was a regroup,and it worked out great. This was the second time in the year we took anopportunity to give her two weeks and just turn her out and then train her intothe respective race. I think that’s really been a key with her, because she’sdeveloped so much this year. She comes back, she looks fantastic, and she doesn’tlose any fitness.”

The winning time of 1:23.28 for Vahva was 0.30 seconds fasterthan it took Raise Cain to win 1 1/2 hours earlier in the comparable PerryvilleStakes that had six 3-year-old males.

Vahva paid $7.06, $2.92 and $2.46. Alva Starr returned $2.64and $2.42. Dazzling Blue (7-1), who finished second to Vahva in the VictoryRide and third to Alva Starr in the Prioress, was another 12 1/2 lengths up thetrack in third Saturday and paid $3.24 to show. Apple Picker (25-1), Lily Poo (14-1),Lady Radler (9-1) and Ancient Peace (12-1) finished fourth through seventh inthat order. Simply Stated and Nom de Plume were race-day scratches.

Based at Fair Grounds, Brinkman said Alva Starr probably wasdone racing for a year in which she went 5: 2-3-0.

“We’re going to probably go home, piddle around with her andgive her some time off,” he said. “We’ll kind of regroup and crank up probablyin February.”

Not so for Vahva, who added $211,575 on Saturday to bring hercareer earnings to $873,810 from her record of 10: 4-2-2. DeVaux said a Grade 1race Dec. 26 at Santa Anita was a distinct possibility. And seven furlongs wasa distinct probability.

“Oh, yeah. Seven furlongs definitely seems to be her sweetspot,” DeVaux said. “We’ll try to keep that distance going forward. We’retargeting the La Brea, just depending on what she does. If we think she needstime, she obviously can train into races. But if we find something else we wantto run her in, we’ll do that. Right now the target is the La Brea at the end ofthe year.”

If that means Velázquez gets his third ride on the filly whocost $280,000 as a yearling, all the better. Especially at seven furlongs andriding for a 41-year-old trainer who is having a career year with six graded stakesamong her 47 victories and earnings of more than $4.5 million.

“Cherie has done a great job with her,” Velázquez said. “Shethinks this is probably the best distance for her.”