Venue for October 18 - Keeneland
 

With all of the BC horses having completed their final preps and the BC fields dominating everyone's thoughts, I think that the best racing this Saturday will be at beautiful Keeneland. The card features the Grade 2 Raven Run and the Grade 3 Perryville. We will be playing the full 10 race card.

I'm always curious about the source of names for stakes races. In case some of you share this curiousity, here is a bit of trivia:

Raven Run is a 374-acre nature sanctuary near Lexington that is dedicated to the protection of the animals and plants found within its boundaries. Hiking trails feature meadow, forest and creek ecosystems as well as historic and geologic features of the Kentucky River Palisades. Lexus of Lexington became the sponsor in 2005.

The $350,000 Perryville (G3) is for 3-year-olds, going 7 furlongs on the main track. This stakes race was inaugurated in the fall of 1999. The 2015 and 2020 runnings were held on the undercard of the Breeders' Cup World Championships. The race was upgraded from listed to Grade 3 in 2024. Perryville is the site of a 1962 Civil War battlefield.