Kappa Kappa wins Keeneland thriller at 27-1 in Raven Run

In an airtight duel down the homestretch, long shot Kappa Kappa got her head down at the finish to edge Vodka With a Twist for a 27-1 upset victory Saturday in the Grade 2, $400,000 Raven Run Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Keeneland.

Five scratches helped Parx-based Kappa Kappa draw in from the also-eligible list to the final field of 10. She won for the third time in four starts for trainer Butch Reid and owners LC Racing, Cash is King and Wellesley Stable.

After contesting the early pace in the seven-furlong race, Kappa Kappa and jockey John Velázquez emerged at the top of the homestretch in a three-abreast battle with Bob Baffert-trained Usha (3-1) and Phil Bauer’s Delightful Claire (15-1).

Ridden by Luis Sáez, Vodka With a Twist (20-1) went from a stalking fourth to take a two-wide lead near the eighth pole. Velázquez and Kappa Kappa, who held the rail, did not let them get away, finally taking the lead for good in the shadow of the finish line.

“She showed a lot of heart,” Velázquez said. “She found herself at the three-sixteenths pole in front, (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 hand, and she responded nicely.”

After early splits of 22.81, 45.94 and 1:10.75, Kappa Kappa won with a time of 1:23.90 on the fast main track and paid $56.06, $24.30 and $9.54 across the board.

Vodka With a Twist, trained by Phil D’Amato, finished second to pay $14.42 and $6.16.

Ragtime (6-5), the post-time favorite for trainer Bill Mott, rallied from last place and came home third under Júnior Alvarado, a half-length behind the top two. She returned $2.70 to show.

Om N Joy (12-1) finished fourth.

Vixen, Strong State, Volleyballprincess, Reputation and also-eligible Taliesin were scratched.

A $65,000 Omaha Beach colt, Kappa Kappa had her first three starts this summer at Parx. She won her debut going six furlongs, finished second going an allowance mile and won a six-furlong, Pennsylvania-bred allowance by six lengths.

Reid said Kappa Kappa showed a little something extra in her first trip to Keeneland.

“Certainly gameness. That was the one thing,” he said. “She’s been beating up on horses in the fields pretty easily up in Philly, so she certainly showed some gameness today like we hoped she would.”