Keertana takes Louisville in nose bob

by Jennifer Caldwell

Barbara Hunter's homebred Keertana just got her nose down in a three-way photo

finish on the wire to take the $111,200 Grade 3

Louisville Handicap at Churchill Downs Saturday. Jockey Jose Lezcano guided the

Tom Proctor trainee through the 1 1/2-marathon test on the firm Matt Winn Turf

Course, and the pair stopped the clock in 2:33 3/5 in a bobbing finish.

The daughter of Johar is now just shy of $1 million in lifetime earnings. The winner's

share boosted her bankroll to $981,938, and she's now racked up an 11-5-6 mark

from 26 career starts.

"If she ran third, that would have been OK," Proctor said. "I was just

enjoying watching her fight for it. If you don't enjoy finishes like that then

you're in trouble in this business.

"I ran her in this spot because I didn't want to ship her. I actually thought

it was a conservative move to keep her here and run against the boys. This might

be one of the first times I've ever run a filly or mare against males, but every

time you ship one and then have to bring them back it's really like making them

run two races so I wanted to run her here."

Free Fighter, who captured this race last year by two lengths over a

returning Bearpath, gunned straight to the front when the gates opened but was

quickly overtaken by Guys Reward. That one proceeded to lead the way through

fractions of :25 3/5 and :51 4/5 with Free Fighter keeping in close attendance

and El Crespo chasing in third to the outside of Keertana.

Free Fighter had already faded before Guys Reward reached the mile in 1:45

4/5, but El Crespo was more than willing to take over pressing duties on the

outside. Meanwhile, Keertana angled in and slipped through to the inside of Guys

Reward on the hedge. El Crespo couldn't keep pace as the duo battled it out in

the stretch run and bumped Bearpath hard when coming out near the furlong

marker. Bearpath recovered and continued his game late rally, hooking up with

the top two just strides from the wire.

Keertana, Guys Reward and Bearpath hit the line together with heads bobbing

furiously but, in the end, the photo showed the gallant mare had gotten her nose

down first.

"It was a great race," Lezcano said. "I wanted to take her to the outside

because I thought that would be best for her. The grass was softer on the hedge

and I wanted her to go outside, but I really didn't have a choice and had to go

up the inside. When we hit the wire, I didn't know if she won, or finished

second, or finished third. I didn't know we won until they put it up on the

screen. I'm very happy. She's a nice mare."

Keertana was sent off the 3-2 favorite in the seven-horse field and returned

$5, $3 and $2.80.

"I'm just tickled for her," Proctor said. "She's a neat mare and I'm just

happy to ride on her coattails. Once horses like her leave the barn, you can't

replace them. That's already her third graded-stakes win of the year. That's a

hell of a year!

"She ran a great race and hopefully she'll come out of it good and we'll get

to have fun again. The Breeders' Cup (Filly & Mare Turf [G1]) is the long-term

goal. But that's still awhile away from now."

Bearpath managed to get his nose down in front of Guys Reward

to take second, and it was 2 1/4 lengths farther back to El Crespo.

"If the horse at the eighth-pole doesn't come out in front of me and I have

to check, he probably would have done it," said Freddie Lenclud aboard Bearpath.

"It's just part of racing. But he ran great today. We know now that he likes to

be off the pace. We tried to see if he would be comfortable being up in the

race, but he doesn't like that. He just likes to be at the back, and that's how

he is."

Last-out

Grade 2 Elkhorn winner Musketier never challenged while finishing fifth, two

lengths in front of Memorial Maniac. Free Fighter was a distant last, 25 1/4

lengths behind Memorial Maniac, after Simmard, Dark Cove and Formulaforsuccess

were all withdrawn.

Keertana earned her second straight graded win with this one, and is now

5-4-0-1 for the year. She opened her five-year-old season with a dead-heat

allowance score at Tampa Bay Downs and followed with a victory in Grade 3 The

Very One at Gulfstream Park. The dark bay returned to Tampa on March 12 for the

Grade 3 Hillsborough, but could only manage third in that 1 1/8-mile event. She

got back on the winning track last out at Keeneland with a 1 1/4-length score in

the Grade 3 Bewitch.

As a three-year-old in 2009, the dark bay captured the Grade 3 Regret and

Indiana Downs Distaff and placed in the Grade 1 Garden City, Grade 2 Mrs.

Revere, Grade 2 Lake Placid and Grade 3 Valley View. Last season, she placed in

the Grade 3 Mint Julep and De La Rose over the summer, but showed an entirely

new dimension when stepped up in trip for the 1 3/8-mile, Grade 3 Glens Falls,

where she exploded to an impressive 3 1/4-length triumph. She concluded her 2010

campaign with a hard-charging third in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare

Turf, beaten all of a half-length.

The Kentucky-bred was produced by the unraced Storm Cat mare Motokiks, making

her a half-sister to last year's Garden City, Regret and Grade 3 Arlington Oaks

runner-up Snow Top Mountain. She has two other younger half-siblings, a juvenile

colt by Rock Hard Ten named Moe Moes Rock Ten and an unnamed yearling colt by

Afleet Alex.

Motokiks is herself a full sister to Group 2-placed multiple German stakes

victor Catoki and a half-sister to two-time Italian highweight and Group 1 hero

Knifebox as well as multiple Grade 3 winner and Grade 1-placed Parochial. This

is the family of multiple Grade 1 heroine Spoken Fur.