Kappa Kappa with John Velasquez up. (Keeneland Photo)
Parx invader springs 27-1 upset at Keeneland
Keeneland Release
LEXINGTON, Ky. – LC Racing, Cash is King and trainer Butch Reid’s Wellesley Stable’s 27-1 longshot Kappa Kappa battled back in deep stretch to edge Vodka With a Twist by a head to win the 27th running of the $400,000 Lexus Raven Run (G2) for 3-year-old fillies Saturday afternoon at Keeneland.
Earlier on the program, Zedan Racing Stables’ Barnes cruised to an 8 1/4-length victory over favored Captain Cook to win the 17th running $350,000 Perryville (G3) for 3-year-olds.
In the Lexus Raven Run, Kappa Kappa rushed to the front out of the gate but was quickly joined to her inside by Delightful Claire and Usha with Vodka With a Twist tracking in fourth through opening fractions of :22.81 and :45.94.
At the top of the stretch, Kappa Kappa shook off her early competition only to be confronted by Vodka With a Twist, who surged to a narrow advantage passing the eighth pole. Kappa Kappa dug back in on the inside and regained the advantage in the shadow of the wire.
Kappa Kappa completed the 7 furlongs in 1:23.90 and gave jockey John Velazquez his fourth win in this race and sixth stakes victory of the Fall Meet. Velazquez also won the Lexus Raven Run in 2023 with Vahva, 2012 with Gypsy Robin and 2008 with Informed Decision.
Now owning a 4-3-1-0 record after notching her first stakes victory, Kappa Kappa is a Pennsylvania-bred daughter of Omaha Beach out of the Pioneerof the Nile mare Pharoah’s Princess and is a Keeneland sales graduate. With Saturday’s $174,375 check, she increased her earnings to $278,375.
Kappa Kappa returned a stakes-record $56.06 win payoff plus $24.30 and $9.54 to place and show. Vodka With a Twist, ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, returned $14.42 and $6.16 and finished a half-length in front of the fast-finishing favorite Ragtime, who paid $2.70 to show under Junior Alvarado.
It was another 1½ lengths back to Om N Joy with Delightful Claire, Maida, Usha, Quietside, Simply Joking and Tetiaroa following in order.
Racing continues Sunday with a nine-race program beginning at 1 p.m. ET and headlined by the 34th running of the $350,000 Rood & Riddle Dowager (G3) for fillies and mares going 1½ miles on the grass.
Quotes from the $400,000 Lexus Raven Run (G2) at Keeneland
John Velazquez (winning rider of Kappa Kappa, his sixth stakes winner of Keeneland’s 2025 Fall Meet): “She showed a lot of heart. She found herself at the three-sixteenths pole in front, the other horse (Vodka With a Twist) passed her and then she came back and put up a good fight. This is her first time being here (at Keeneland), so you could see she was looking (around) a lot from the three-eighths pole to the five-sixteenths pole and I kind of waited for the horses inside of me to get head-and-head with me, and when we got to the quarter pole she waited. She got surprised by the horses outside. Finally, I went back to left-handed and she responded nicely. Very nicely done.”
Butch Reid (winning trainer), On what he learned about Kappa Kappa today: “Certainly gameness, that was the one thing. She’s been beating up on horses in the fields pretty easily up in Philly (at Parx Racing), so she certainly showed some gameness today like we hoped she would.”
On whether the battle in the stretch was cause for anxious moments: “It certainly was, but then when I saw her digging back in — I knew she had the talent but obviously she showed today she has the heart to go along with it.”
Glenn Bennett (of winning co-owner LC Racing): “I was dying (watching the stretch battle), but the way she fought back, it was awesome. I couldn’t be more excited. She’s just a great filly. It’s unbelievable (to win at Keeneland). It’s the first time I’ve been here and the first time I’ve raced a horse here. (The filly was named) after Kappa Kappa Gamma, my daughter’s sorority at Villanova, so that’s how the name came about.”
Tyler Gaffalione (rider of runner-up Vodka With a Twist): “Everything went great. She broke alertly — she put me in a great spot. She traveled really well throughout the race. Coming into the stretch, she kicked on nicely. I thought we had put them away, but the filly on the inside (Kappa Kappa) just battled back. Nothing against my filly, she ran a really good race today.”
Junior Alvarado (rider of third-place finisher Ragtime): “She didn’t break today. I tried to see if I could get through traffic somewhere to cut the corner a little bit, but I didn’t have any chance. I had to swing around and lost a lot of ground. If I had a little more ground left before the wire, I think I could have closed.”
