Emery, My Mane Squeeze Meet Again in Raven Run

As Test Stakes (G1) winner Ways and Means  heads to the challenge of older fillies and mares in the Nov. 2 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) at Del Mar, her rivals at the top of the 3-year-old female sprint division will take another graded opportunity against their own age as the year winds down.

Emery  and My Mane Squeeze —second and third in the Test, respectively—headline a field of 10 that will travel seven furlongs at Keeneland Oct. 19 in the $350,000 Raven Run Stakes (G2).

The two fillies have taken different routes to the Raven Run, with Emery unraced since the Aug. 3 Test and My Mane Squeeze having raced twice.

Video: Test S. Presented by Ticketmaster (G1)

Racing for Stonestreet Stables and trainer Brad Cox, the Test snapped Emery's three-race win streak and was her first loss at a distance under one mile. However, the grade 3-winning daughter of More Than Ready upheld her reputation in her toughest race with the runner-up powering home two lengths clear of My Mane Squeeze on a muddy track in the Test. She's a clear Raven Run favorite on the morning line at 7-5.

"We gave her time off after that big effort in the Test against Ways and Means," said Blake Cox, assistant to his father. "She's now grade 1-placed and doing well."

Trainer Mike Maker has sent My Mane Squeeze back to the starting gate twice since the Test. On Aug. 23 at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races she was runner-up in the Charles Town Oaks (G2) and rebounded with her second career graded victory in the Sept. 21 Dogwood Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs, defeating Fibber  by five lengths.

With a record of 6-1-3 from 12 starts for William Butler and WinStar Farm, the Audible   filly finds herself less than $12,000 away from millionaire status. She's listed as the 4-1 second choice.

MJM Racing and Magdalena Racing's V V's Dream  makes her second start off a six-month layoff. Winner of the one-turn mile Pocahontas Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs last fall, she failed to make the winner's circle in four subsequent starts on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks (G1).

Freshened up, she returned in a six-furlong allowance at Churchill Downs Sept. 15, finishing third while beaten 2 1/2 lengths. The top two finishers from that race, Mink's Palace  (12-1) and Riperton  (20-1)—who finished just a head apart—also return for the Raven Run at a higher value than V V's Dream's 8-1 morning-line odds.

GU Racing Stable's Twirling Queen  had an impressive start to her season, going 4-for-4 with three stakes victories sprinting on turf and synthetic. The second half of the year has been more frustrating.

Trainer Jose D'Angelo chose to skip racing in the Aug. 10 Galway Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in favor of training up to the Sept. 7 Music City Stakes (G2T) at Kentucky Downs. Unfortunately, the Twirling Candy   filly got stuck on the also-eligible list and never got to run. She again got caught on the AE list Oct. 13 in Keeneland's Franklin Stakes (G2T). Now D'Angelo will swap to dirt, which she was 1-for-4 over as a 2-year-old, to find a spot.