Keeneland Barn Notes: Raven Run Winner Kappa Kappa Heads Back “Home” to Parx

(Kappa Kappa wins the Raven Run and now is headed back to Parx / All Photos by Coady Media)

From the Keeneland Media Team / Amy Owens:

• KAPPA KAPPA RETURNS TO PARX AFTER LEXUS RAVEN RUN VICTORY
• WALSH MAINTAINS LEAD IN TRAINERS’ RACE
• GALLOPING OUT
• FALL MEET SPECIAL EVENTS
• FALL MEET LEADERS

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KAPPA KAPPA RETURNS TO PARX AFTER LEXUS RAVEN RUN VICTORY

LC Racing, Cash is King and trainer Butch Reid’s Wellesley Stable’s Kappa Kappa left Keeneland at 4 a.m. Sunday for a van ride back to her home base at Parx in Pennsylvania.

“We let her get some sleep (before hitting the road),” Reid said via text of his filly, who posted a gutsy head victory overVodka With a Twist Saturday afternoon in the Lexus Raven Run (G2).

Now a winner of three races in four starts, Kappa Kappa provided Reid with his second Keeneland stakes victory. His initial victory came in 2020 when Vequist won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).

“I am not sure what is next for Kappa Kappa,” Reid said. “But a one-turn mile may be enticing.”

WALSH MAINTAINS LEAD IN TRAINERS’ RACE

Brendan Walsh took the lead out of the gate with a three-win day on opening day of the 17-day Fall Meet, and with 70% of the Keeneland Fall Meet in the books he is still in front.

Walsh shows no signs of slowing down with a trio of entrants in today’s $350,000 Rood & Riddle Dowager (G3). On Saturday, closing day of the season, he will send out Preakness (G1) and NYRA Bets Haskell (G1) runner-up Gosger in his first start against older runners in the $350,000 Hagyard Fayette (G3).

Walsh, who shared the 2025 Spring Meet training title with Brad Cox, has saddled eight winners with three of them coming in stakes, a total that matches Todd Pletcher as tops for the meet. Among the trio are Breeders’ Cup hopefuls Gin Gin and Imaginationthelady.

“Gin Gin is here, and Imaginationthelady is at Turfway Park,” Walsh said, adding that a third Breeders’ Cup hopeful, Clicquot, is at Churchill Downs. “They will have their last work Friday or Saturday, depending on the weather.”

Calumet Farm’s Gin Gin won the Juddmonte Spinster (G1) to secure a berth in the Nov. 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1), where she will join X-Men Racing IV, Madaket Stables and SF Racing’s Clicquot, winner of the Cotillion (G1) at Parx last month.

Mark Dobbin’s Imaginationthelady won the opening-day Jessamine (G2) Presented by Keeneland Sales to earn a spot in the John Deere Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) on Oct. 31.

Walsh’s Breeders’ Cup runners are scheduled to leave for Del Mar on Monday, Oct. 27.

GALLOPING OUT

The win by Solemn Vow in Saturday’s Race 7 gave owner Spendthrift Farm its sixth victory of the Fall Meet — in six starts. In partnership with Repole Stable, Spendthrift co-owns a seventh winner during the season: Tenacious Leader.

FALL MEET SPECIAL EVENTS

Throughout the Fall Meet, special events and activities will continue Keeneland’s historic mission to support the Central Kentucky community and the Thoroughbred industry. They include:

Year-round

Official Keeneland Tours: Click here for description, availability and to purchase tickets.

Monday, Oct. 20

Keeneland Library will host a free open house from 6-8 p.m. with a welcome and comments from authors who contributed to The Racetracks of America: From the Pre-Civil War Days to the 21^st Century.

A limited supply of the book released by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in partnership with Keeneland Library is available at The Keeneland Shop and Keeneland Library. All proceeds from books sales at Keeneland will benefit the Keeneland Library Foundation.

FALL MEET LEADERS

Through Oct. 18 (12 days of 17-day season)