Venencia with Ben Curtis up. (Keeneland Photo)
Keeneland Release
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Venencia (FR) stalked the pace early then held off a late challenge from Bless My Stars (SAF) to score a 2¾-length victory in the $350,000 Rood & Riddle Dowager (G3) on a cool, rainy afternoon at Keeneland.
Ridden by Ben Curtis for the Fall Meet’s leading trainer, Brendan Walsh, Venencia races for Bradley Thoroughbreds, Laura Leigh Stable, Jim Cone, Belmar Racing and Breeding, Team Hanley and Cambron Equine.
The Rood & Riddle Dowager victory was the second for Walsh, who won the race in 2022 with Temple City Terror.
Today, Venencia matched strides with front-running longhot Cupid’s Crush until the top of the stretch before drawing clear on the inside. Bless My Stars, ridden by John Velazquez, raced just off the pace early and made a late run but could not catch the winner.
Venencia paid $17.76, $9.04 and $5.28. Bless My Stars paid $8.28 and $5.36 and finished 2½ lengths ahead of favored Vive Veuve, who returned $3.38 under Irad Ortiz Jr.
Spanish Eyes (GER) was another 3¾ lengths behind in fourth and was followed in order by Duvet Day (IRE), Miwa (GB), Adrasteia, Boss Lady Bailey and Cupids Crush.
Venencia completed 1½ miles on a yielding turf course in 2:35.69. With the victory worth $147,250, she improved her career earnings to $373,817 with her third win in 14 starts.
A 5-year-old daughter of Recoletos out of the Lemon Drop Kid mare Sign of Life, Venencia is cataloged to sell as a racing or broodmare prospect in Keeneland’s November Breeding Stock Sale, which begins Tuesday, Nov. 4. Click here for her catalog page.
Quotes from the $350,000 Rood & Riddle Dowager (G3)
Ben Curtis (winning rider of Venencia-FR), On whether the move to get into the race coming down the stretch the first time was key to the victory: “Yeah, I think so. (Trainer) Brendan (Walsh) alluded before the race in an interview that she had plenty of stamina, and that wasn’t going to be an issue today. I found myself in a nice spot, but we were going very steady. I was keen to make it more of a test. As I said, we had stamina, so the best thing was to test everyone else’s. I pushed forward, and once I got around the first turn, she relaxed on me again. I could ride my race from there and kick on nice and early. To be fair, (jockey) Johnny (Velazquez aboard Bless My Stars-SAF) came and headed me. His horse picked up well, but mine ground it out and came back in the last eighth and did it well.”
Brendan Walsh (winning trainer): “Since she came to us, she’s been working along nice. We didn’t do anything fancy at all, just kept it simple, and it was a question of whether she’d stay or not and, of course, like the ground. It was all positive with her. She got the job done. It’s great.”
Pete Bradley (of winning co-owner Bradley Thoroughbreds), On what the Grade 3 win means for the ownership team: “It really moves up her value coming into the (Keeneland) November (Breeding Stock) Sale. She is going to be a star on the day. She’s a beautiful filly. She’s got race left. It’s what you try to make happen.”
John Velazquez (rider of runner-up Bless My Stars-SAF): “I had a great trip. In the first part she wanted to be a little keen even though they were going slow. We’ve had a lot of rain. There wasn’t much pace in the race anyway. The only horse who had all the pace was on the lead. Once the other horse went, it was perfect for me. I stuck her with those two horses. I thought I had it at the quarter pole, and she ran to the eighth pole and just got tired.”
Irad Ortiz Jr. (rider of third-place finisher Vive Veuve): “Beautiful trip. I expected a slow pace. I didn’t worry about it. Just tried to ride my filly with confidence, concentrate on her, and she ran good.”
Wednesday begins the final four days of Keeneland’s 17-day Fall Meet. The first race is at 1 p.m.
