Race 9 at Churchill Downs | Saturday, May 23 | Post Time 4:56 PM Eastern

Keertana Stakes | Purse $250,000 | One Mile and One-Half on Turf | Fillies and Mares, Four Years Old and Upward

Top Win Contender(s): Sultana (1)

For second in exactas and in third on trifectas: Ayra Stark (3), Golden Sunshine (4), and Way to Be Marie (5)

Sultana (1) has four wins, one second, and one third in six races. She comes into this off three straight wins, the first in September and the second on November 8, when she won her first stakes race, the Grade 3 Maple Leaf Stakes. Sultana then took nearly five months off, returning on March 28 to win the Grade 3 Orchid Stakes. The Orchid was run at the same mile and one-half distance as this race, and she looked as if she had been off for only a month. Although she won her last two races by a neck or less, she showed determination. In her last race, she ran 41 mph in the final one-quarter mile on the turn, faster than any other horse in the race. Jockey Junior Alvarado rode her for the first time and will ride her again. Considering she is in her second race off the layoff and has already won a similar stakes race, she is likely to improve and is the one to beat.

Any of three horses can finish second to be in the exacta, or third in trifectas - Ayra Stark (3), Golden Sunshine (4), and Way to Be Marie (5). Ayra Stark has finished second in three straight races. In all three races, she led at the eighth but lacked kick. In her most recent race, she couldn’t finish better than Sultana. Golden Sunshine also finished second in her last race, the similar Grade 3 Bewitch Stakes. She finished second or third in five of her last seven races, so she also has a shot at the exacta or trifecta. Way to Be Marie made a run from third, four lengths behind the lead early when the pace was slow, but she faded to third. One race back, she rallied from fifth to win, but at a shorter distance. Both races were ridden by Luis Saez, who will be up again. If she runs as she did in that race, she has a shot at the money.

Win bets: Sultana (1) at odds of 2 to 1 or higher.

Exacta: Sultana (1) over Ayra Stark (3), Golden Sunshine (4), and Way to Be Marie (5)

Trifecta: Sultana (1) over Ayra Stark (3), Golden Sunshine (4), and Way to Be Marie (5)