Raise Cain (Keeneland Photo)
Keeneland Press Release
LEXINGTON, Ky.— Andrew and Rania Warren’s Raise Cain prevailed by a head over Dr. Venkman after a stretch-long duel in the 15th running of the $235,188 Perryville (L) for 3-year-olds.
Trained by Ben Colebrook and ridden by Luis Saez, Raise Cain covered the 7 furlongs on a fast main track in 1:23.58.
Verifying and Confidence Game zipped an opening half-mile in :45.69 with Dr. Venkman racing three-wide just behind the leaders and Raise Cain saving ground in fourth.
On the turn, Dr. Venkman went after the top two with Raise Cain tipping off the inside and moving just behind Dr. Venkman.
At the top of the stretch, those two hooked up with Raise Cain owning the initial momentum to stick his head in front only to have Dr. Venkman battle back to hold a narrow edge through the lane until Raise Cain pushed by for good in the final 20 yards.
It was another 5½ lengths back to Loyal Company with Verifying and Confidence Game following in order.
A Keeneland sales graduate, Raise Cain is a Kentucky-bred son of Violence out of the Lemon Drop Kid mare Lemon Belle. Winner of the Gotham (G3) this spring, Raise Cain notched his second stakes victory and improved his record to 13-3-2-1 and boosted his earnings to $577,066 with Saturday’s $153,063 check.
Raise Cain returned $14.88, $5.56 and $4.04. Dr. Venkman, sent off as the favorite under John Velazquez, returned $3.16 and $3.06 and finished 1¼ lengths in front of Post Time, who paid $4.84 to show under Sheldon Russell.
Quotes from the $250,000 Perryville (L)
Ben Colebrook (trainer of winner Raise Cain)
On cutting back in distance and running against this level of sprint competition
“I think it’s probably what he wants to do. His only wins were around one turn. He got us to the (Kentucky) Derby, and he’s been such an overachieving horse, he really deserved it. I think (jockey) Luis Saez made the difference. He rode him great. I mean, all the riders have ridden him well, but Luis gives you that just extra little bit. That’s probably what we needed today.”
Luis Saez (winning rider)
“It was the trip we were looking for. We knew there would be some speed from the inside, obviously with Verifying, so the plan was to follow him and save ground in the turn. Then when we came to the top of the stretch, we swung out and he gave me a very, very quick turn of foot.”
Mark Glatt (trainer of runner-up and favorite Dr. Venkman)
“I’m satisfied with his performance. He’s lacking experience against these horses, and everything has probably been just a little too easy for him up to this point. He’s never been in a dogfight, so to speak, and he got a dogfight today. Even though we’re disappointed he didn’t win, I think he’ll gain a lot out of this and really move forward off this race.
“We’ve got the Malibu (G1) coming up at the end of the year (Dec. 26) back at Santa Anita, but we’ll see how he comes back. He shipped well, so, you know, if the next spot comes up and he needs to ship for a spot, I think we can do that.”
John Velazquez (rider of Dr. Venkman)
“Perfect trip but I think lack of experience for him and being here in Lexington (race was the third career start for Southern California-based runner) is probably what got to him. He got to the quarter pole and waited and then the horse came and surprised him, but he ran a good race. Very nice, did everything brilliant.”
Sheldon Russell (rider of third-place finisher Post Time)
“I felt like we had a good trip. He hasn’t got a whole lot of speed. We were hoping that we got sort of a speed scenario up front. I was happy just following the Brad Cox horse (Verifying). At the half-mile pole I got a little excited. I thought I was traveling the best of all. The gaps opened at the right time. I felt like our horse never gave up. I was really happy with his effort.”
Racing continues Sunday afternoon with a nine-race program beginning at 1 p.m. ET and headlined by the 32nd running of the $300,000 Rood & Riddle Dowager (G3) for fillies and mares going 1½ miles on the grass. The Rood & Riddle Dowager is the day’s seventh race with a 4:12 p.m. post time.
