Movie Night shines brightest in Raven Run

Movie Night nearly ran a winning race in last month’s Dogwood (G3) against the nation’s best three-year-old filly sprinter, Explora. That made her a prime contender in the $381,500 Raven Run (G2) at Keeneland on Saturday, which she won by two lengths under Flavien Prat.

Movie Night finished third by a neck in the Dogwood at Churchill Downs after a pace-pressing trip. In the Raven Run, Movie Night rated a couple lengths off the pace-setting Mythical, overtook that rival inside the final furlong, and drew off late.

Registering her first career stakes win, Movie Night finished up in 1:23.28 for seven furlongs over a fast track and paid $9.84. She races for owner-breeder WinStar Farm and is trained by Will Walden.

Mythical, at 33-1, finished second by one length over 51-1 outsider Army’s Marauder. Conceit, who beat Explora by a head for the win in the Dogwood, finished fourth, while the 2-1 favorite finished fifth after stumbling at the start. Eleven three-year-old fillies ran in the Raven Run.

Movie Night has now won three of six starts. Prior to the Dogwood, she had finished a distant sixth to Explora in the Test (G1) after stumbling at the break. She opened her career with two wins in three tries in the overnight ranks.

Movie Night is by Speightstown and out of Savvy Star, a daughter of the recently deceased Medaglia d’Oro. Movie Night is a half-sister to Stellify, a two-time winner of the Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon (G3).

Dr. Kapur delivered a well-timed rally in the $350,000 Perryville (G3) for three-year-olds, getting up in the final strides to deny Chief Wallabee by a neck. 

Obliteration, second choice in the field of 10, was another nose behind in third. Odds-on choice Deep Flame came up empty in the stretch, finishing fifth after racing wide during the long run down the backside.

A homebred racing for Ken Ramsey, Dr. Kapur entered the seven-furlong Perryville off a second-place effort in the Gallant Bob (G2) at Parx. Under Tyler Gaffalione, Dr. Kapur finished up in 1:24.25 and paid $50.24.

Dr. Kapur is named for a New York surgeon who performed Ramsey's kidney transplant last year.

“I want to give thanks to my man right here, (family friend) Tom Pope. He’s the guy who gave me a kidney,” Ramsey said. “My kidney function was down to 8%. He donated me a kidney, and right now (function) is 84 (%). I’ve got the kidney of a teenager. He’s the reason I’m standing up here. I was gone, simple as that. I’m going to live to 100 or die trying.”

A winner in three of his eight starts, Dr. Kapur is a son of McKinzie and the stakes-winning Ava’s Kitten, a Kitten’s Joy full sister to multiple Grade 1 turf star Real Solution.