Ryvit Posts 12-1 Upset In $300,000 Steel Valley Sprint

Corinne and William Heiligbrodt's Ryvit posted a 12-1 upset in Monday's $300,000 Steel Valley Sprint, defeating favored Damon's Mound by 2 1/4 lengths. The 3-year-old son of Competitive Edge ran six furlongs over Mahoning Valley's fast main track in 1:10.65, ridden by jockey Keith Asmussen for his father, Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.

The speedy favorite, Damon's Mound, set a pressured early pace under Junior Alvarado, while Ryvit lay back in seventh after being bumped at the start. Angled out in the stretch, Ryvit wound up in about the nine-path but pulled away from Damon's Mound under urging from the younger Asmussen. Damon's Mound had to settle for second, while Super Chow checked in third.

Ryvit ended a three-race losing streak in the Steel Valley Sprint, showing a return to the form that saw him win five races in a row earlier this year, including the G3 Chick Lang on the Preakness undercard. Bred in Kentucky by Curt Leake, the colt is out of Medaglia d'Oro mare She Is Bedazzling. He commanded $70,000 as a yearling at the 2021 Texas Thoroughbred Association sale, and has gone on to post a record of six wins from 12 starts for earnings of $658,484.

Earlier on the card, favorite Jersey Pearl scored by a length in the $200,000 Cheryl S. White Memorial Stakes. The Darrin Miller-trained daughter of Bee Jersey ran six furlongs in 1:11.41, and was piloted to victory by Francisco Arrieta. It was the first stakes win for the 3-year-old owned by Silverton Hill, though she had run second in the G2 Prioress in her most recent outing.