Vahva Reels in Alva Starr in Raven Run

The ascent of trainer Cherie DeVaux's career is showing no signs of slowing down.

DeVaux, who began training in 2018 after serving as an assistant for Chad Brown, scored grade 3 wins this summer with More Than Looks , Shotgun Hottie , and Vahva , took the Natalma Stakes (G2T) with She Feels Pretty  last month at Woodbine, and on Oct. 21, added the $349,375 Raven Run Stakes (G2) at Keeneland, again with Vahva.

The stakes victory from Vahva under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez was her first at Keeneland, where she trains much of her expanding stable. 

"I don't know if there are words to really describe that (feeling)," she said from the infield winner's circle at Keeneland, which is reserved for ceremonies honoring graded stakes winners. "Our team has really worked hard with all of our horses, especially this filly, and it's just so rewarding. Johnny and I have had great success this year in stakes races, and I told him, 'There's one thing we haven't done yet, and that's come into the infield for a trophy presentation.' So I'm elated that he got that done."

Emotions everywhere you turn in the @lexuslexington1 Raven Run (G2) winner’s circle after VAHVA’s victory! pic.twitter.com/hofZmwtypO

— Keeneland Racing (@keenelandracing) October 21, 2023

The victory was hard-earned by Vahva, who needed almost the length of the stretch to catch fellow graded stakes winner Alva Starr, who had controlled the pace under Tyler Gaffalione and looked poised to wire the field. But an inside stalking Vahva kept pursuing the leader, and once Velazquez angled her out for the stretch run, she finished with determination to wear down her rival by a half-length.

Rider Reaction

• "I got close to the heels of the horse in front, held my position, and when I pulled her out, she responded," said Velazquez, who notched his third win the Raven Run."That's all you can ask of the horses. She was there for me, and she did it all."

Alva Starr, favored after winning the Sept. 2 Prioress Stakes (G2) by 8 3/4 lengths at Saratoga Race Course in her preceding start, tired late in her first start beyond three-quarters of a mile.

Vahva raced seven furlongs on a fast track in 1:23.28, which was .3 quicker than 3-year-old colt Raise Cain's time in winning the Perryville Stakes over the same distance earlier in the card. Splits of the race set by Alva Starr were moderate: :22.61, :45.48, and 1:10.05.

Vahva, the second choice in the betting, paid $7.06 to win.

Dazzling Blue  finished third, 12 1/2 lengths behind the runner-up, in the sprint restricted to 3-year-old fillies. 

Vahva races for Belladonna Racing, Edward J. Hudson Jr., West Point Thoroughbreds, Nice Guys Stables and Twin Brook Stables.

She was a $280,000 purchase by Belladonna Racing and West Point Thoroughbreds from the 2021 September Yearling Sale at Keeneland from the consignment of her breeder, Woodford Thoroughbreds. DeVaux and bloodstock agent David Ingordo, her husband, are two of the principals behind Belladonna Racing.

Bred in Kentucky, Vahva is out of the stakes-winning Harlan's Holiday mare Holiday Soiree . She is her dam's lone stakes winner and her second black-type runner from six foals of racing age. The dam also has a City of Light   yearling filly and a Nyquist   filly born this year. 

Gun Runner, the leading third-crop sire in North America and second on the national general sire list behind Into Mischief  , has sired such top-class horses as Locked , Gunite , and Echo Zulu . He will stand the 2024 season for $250,000 at Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Ky.