Miss Yearwood rallies in Keertana for second consecutive victory
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE?q=100)
Miss Yearwood scored her second consecutive win routing on the turf as she rode a stout rally to victory in the $225,000 Keertana Stakes on Saturday evening at Churchill Downs.
Miss Yearwood ($5.98), who began her career on dirt, shifted to turf last summer and was a solid third in the Grade 3 Jockey Club Oaks Invitational in September in New York. After finishing off the board in two turf stakes at Gulfstream to start this season, the filly found her stride when the Ian Wilkes barn moved back to Kentucky in the spring. In a Keeneland allowance going 1 1/2 miles, Miss Yearwood was last of seven behind a slow pace at the quarter pole, but rallied to win by 3 1/4 lengths.
In the Keertana, again going 1 1/2 miles, Miss Yearwood and jockey Chris Landeros were sixth in the field of 13 at the quarter pole. Up front, Exit Soul was grimly holding on to a pressured lead after setting a moderate pace (48.38 seconds for the half; 2:03.90 for the 10 furlongs). Miss Yearwood came on outside of Lovely Princess, who assumed the lead from her tracking position. Those two separated themselves as they powered through the stretch to the wire, with Miss Yearwood inching clear to prevail by a length at the wire.
“The pace up front looked pretty honest,” Landeros said. “This horse just likes to make one run so I wanted to make sure to keep her in the clear and be in a good spot when we turned for home. She came with a huge run and really exploded late down the lane.”
The final time for the 12 furlongs was 2:27.45 on the firm turf.
Sparkle Blue arrived on the scene late to be third.
They were followed, in order, by Tabeyah, Under One Sky, Viburnum, Quality Star, Lady Arsinoe, I’m So Sorry, Exit Soul, Implosion, and Sinfiltre.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.