Venus Valentine (74-1) a shocking Rachel Alexandra winner
While Stageplay looked to be the obvious one to beat in Saturday’s Rachel Alexandra Stakes at Fair Grounds, there were several other fillies in the race that seemed capable of pulling off the upset – and then there was Venus Valentine. The rank outsider in the field of nine does not know how to read the racing form, though, nor did anyone tell her that she was not supposed to win the Kentucky Oaks prep. Tilting the toteboard with a $150 return on a two-dollar win bet, the Tom Amoss trained filly flew up the rail to win the Grade 2 affair in last to first fashion.
Sent off at 74-1, the fact that the daughter of Congrats found her way to last in the early stages was not a surprise. After winning first out in her career debut last July at Ellis Park, Venus Valentine had not finished in the money in three starts since, including two straight allowance/optional claiming heats at this same oval. As a pair of 20-1 shots set a solid early pace, it was the Larry Jones trained Midnight On Oconee who sat in the catbird seat in a stalking third. That one made her move on the far turn, with the heavily favored Stageplay menacing on her outside.
Easily the longest shot on the board, Venus Valentine was still in last, but starting to make up ground on the inside. While Midnight On Oconee forged to the lead, the expected challenge from Stageplay, and others never came. It looked like the 8-1 shot might be home free, but Corey Lanerie and Venus Valentine were really starting to roll on the inside. Hugging the rail for the entire stretch drive, Venus Valentine passed the chasers and kept coming at the leader. Midnight On Oconee was a game challenger, but the longshot chestnut’s momentum would soon prove too much, and she drove to the wire a going away one-length winner.
Midnight On Oconee held on to second, with Shaken edging Royal Obsession for third, while the 3-5 Stageplay struggled home to fifth. Soon after the race, the toteboard told the biggest story of the Rachel Alexandra. $150.40 for the win. The 3-6 exacta returned $1,086.80, the $1 trifecta paid $3,818.10, and finally the 10-cent superfecta was worth $1,321.10.
The surprising win was not a shocker to everyone. Amoss thought there was reason to be hopeful of his charge going in.
“She’s been a bit of a guessing game," said Amoss. "She won her first start for us and we knew she had great raw talent. She was tying up and cramping up a lot muscle-wise. We solved this problem…we felt she had a real chance based on how she was coming into the race.”
As for the winning rider of the Rachel Alexandra, “They told me she was a longshot today but she was doing really good and to just let her run her race," said Lanerie.
Bred in Kentucky, Venus Valentine is owned by her breeder, Rosemont Farm, after not meeting her reserve of $140,000 at the Keeneland September Sale of 2014. With today's Grade 2 win, her lifetime record stands at 5-2-0-0, with all but about $25,000 of her $145,185 in lifetime earnings coming this afternoon.
Final time for the 1 1/16 miles on the fast main track at Fair Grounds was 1:45.24, which was a full 1.3 seconds slower then Gun Runner ran while winning the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes two races later on the card.
So was today’s win a fluke, a case of lightning in a bottle for a one-hit wonder? It’s too early to tell, but we should find out more in the Fair Grounds Oaks on April 2, and next time, Venus Valentine will not be 74-1.