Ayra Stark Conquers Slow-Paced Keertana

Ayra Stark (ARG) failed to meet her reserve when bidding stalled at $725,000 during last year's Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, but the mare has more than rewarded owner Haymarket Farms on the racetrack since. Three initial runner-up finishes in stakes followed her buyback, including twice in grade 3s, and she finally broke through May 23 at Churchill Downs with a rewarding stakes victory in taking the $209,000 Keertana Stakes by 2 3/4 lengths over Venencia (FR). The Keertana was her second stakes victory following a group 2 triumph in her native Argentina in 2024. Saturday's 1 1/2-mile turf race set up for Ayra Stark, from limited pace pressure to the key scratch of Sultana, who had edged her a start earlier in the March 28 Orchid Stakes (G3T) at Gulfstream Park. Bet down to 6-5 favoritism, she broke alertly under Jose Ortiz and led her six female rivals through easy splits of :24.79, :49.94, 1:15.04, and 1:40.50 over a drying-out turf course rated as good. Only over the final half-mile of the race did the tempo quicken. Initially, pace-chasing Virgin Colada went after her, and followed in the stretch with bids from Venencia, show finisher Way to Be Marie, and fourth-place Golden Sunshine. But Ayra Stark held them all comfortably at bay, as they battled for the secondary prizes. "It looked on paper that it was no other speed," Ortiz said in a postrace in-house television interview. "My plan was to break good and take command of the race early. I did that, she relaxed well, and she finished very good today." Ayra Stark completed 1 1/2 miles on good turf in 2:27.89, including a final quarter-mile in :23.34. She paid $4.24 to win. In her four most recent starts, she has been trained by Maryland-based Horacio De Paz, who took over her conditioning following trainer Ignacio "Nacho" Correas IV's retirement last fall. When asked what he believes to be her best distance, Ortiz said, "I think anything from mile and a quarter to mile and a half, she could handle very well, but I'm 2-for-2 on her at a mile and a half, so let's go with that." In her other start at the distance, she took a second-level allowance at Keeneland Oct. 15 by 4 1/4 lengths under the Kentucky Derby (G1)-winning rider. The winner is a chestnut 6-year-old daughter of Cosmic Trigger (ARG) bred in Argentina by Marovi S.A. out of the Exchange Rate mare Delfia (ARG). Saturday's win netted her $121,520, bringing her earnings to $362,653 and improving her record to 7-4-1 in 16 starts.