Two plays for five Sunday tournaments at Churchill Downs

The Sunday card at Churchill Downs is the focus of five TwinSpires tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $40 to $600.

Here are the details:

• The $50 Churchill Downs Bet and Set Feeder to 5/24 Churchill Downs SFBC Qualifier requires placing $2 win/place wagers across all nine races at Churchill. All wagers must be placed before post time for the first race.
• The $600 Churchill Downs SFBC Qualifier is the big one; players must wager their $300 bankroll across at least five races at Churchill (minimum of $30 in a given race for it to count toward the five-race minimum), with the winner guaranteed to receive an entry into the $3,500 Stephen Foster Betting Challenge.
• The $40 Churchill Downs Challenge requires betting a $25 bankroll across at least five races.
• The $100 Churchill Downs Challenge requires betting a $60 bankroll across at least five races.
• The $200 Churchill Downs Feeder to 5/23 Churchill Downs NHC Qualifier requires betting a $100 bankroll across at least five races (minimum of $10 in a given race for it to count toward the five-race minimum).

In short, there’s a tournament for every budget. You can play for cash prizes in the challenges, or aim to earn entries into future tournaments by playing the feeders and the qualifier.

Regardless of which tournament(s) you play, here are a few horses and bets to consider toward the end of the card:

Race 7: Maiden Special Weight (six furlongs on dirt, 3:50 p.m. ET)

#9 Deep Flame (8-5) is a bit unlucky to still be a maiden. He’s finished second in his first two starts over this class level. In his Feb. 14 debut at Fair Grounds, he came home behind next-out Lafayette S. winner Trouble Calling. Then on April 4 at Keeneland, he was beaten only half a length by next-out $125,000 allowance optional claiming winner Gilded Bandit.

Those efforts yielded improving Brisnet Speed ratings of 83 and 98. Perhaps Deep Flame will catch an easier field in his third start and graduate for the hot jockey/trainer duo of Irad Ortiz Jr. and Brad Cox.

If you’re playing the Bet and Set tournament, we recommend using Deep Flame for your win/place wagers. For any of the other tournaments, key Deep Flame on top of an exacta using #11 Embry Show (7-2) for second place. The latter finished fifth when debuting in a deep 6 1/2-furlong maiden special weight at Santa Anita two months ago. The winner, Crude Velocity, is unbeaten in three starts and recently took the Pat Day Mile (G2) at Churchill Downs.

Race 8: $80,000 Allowance Optional Claiming (seven furlongs on dirt, 4:22 p.m. ET)

#2 Me and Molly McGee (5-2) has lots of early speed and rarely runs a bad race. In her 2026 debut, she finished a pacesetting second in the seven-furlong D. Wayne Lukas (G2) at Santa Anita, beaten only 1 3/4 lengths by reigning Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) winner Splendora.

That effort earned Me and Molly McGee a 102 Brisnet Speed rating, the only triple-digit number belonging to any of the horses entered in Race 8. 

We suggest betting Me and Molly McGee to win (or win/place in the Bet and Set tournament) before keying her over #8 Blue Fire (3-1) in an exacta. The latter has won a bevy of stakes for Louisiana-breds, but also ran second in the seven-furlong Eight Belles (G2) at Churchill Downs last year.

Good luck!