Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Lady Eli, Dickinson rematched
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Only three horses have beaten Lady Eli in her brilliant 11-race career. One of those horses, Dickinson, will be Lady Eli’s chief nemesis in Saturday’s $500,000 Diana Stakes, the first Grade 1 of the Saratoga meet.
Dickinson, trained by Kiaran McLaughlin for Godolphin Racing, defeated Lady Eli by a head in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland in April. For Dickinson, it was her fourth start of the year. For Lady Eli it was her first.
“The troubled trip that we had might have worked out to our advantage because Lady Eli is always coming to get a horse and we got stopped and came and got her,” McLaughlin said.
Coming out of the Jenny Wiley, Dickinson ran in the Grade 1 Just a Game at Belmont, where she finished third behind Antonoe, to whom Dickinson was giving eight pounds. Saturday, Dickinson is on level weights with Antonoe while getting two pounds from Lady Eli.
Dickinson, a daughter of Medaglia d’Oro, is 2 for 2 at the Diana distance of 1 1/8 miles. She will break from post 6 under Paco Lopez.
After getting beat in the Jenny Wiley, Lady Eli came back to win the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita. She had to lay closer to the pace than usual due to the lack of speed in the race. The same scenario could present itself on Saturday.
Lady Eli breaks from post 3 under Irad Ortiz Jr.
Harmonize, My Impression, and Quidura complete the Diana field.
Pletcher pair top Sanford
A field of eight 2-year-olds was drawn Wednesday for Saturday’s Grade 3 Sanford, a sixfurlong race topped by trainer Todd Pletcher’s pair of Admiral Jimmy and Bal Harbour. Completing the lineup are the stakes-placed Direct Dial; debut winners Psychoanalyze, Free Drop Billy, and Firenze Fire; and Baffin and Nauti Boy.
Pletcher will be seeking a record seventh Sanford victory. Admiral Jimmy finished third, a nose behind runnerup Direct Dial, last month at Belmont Park in the Tremont. Bal Harbour shipped north after winning his maiden over a sloppy track at Gulfstream Park.
Psychoanalyze posted the highest Beyer Speed Figure of any member in the field, 76, after setting a pressured pace and holding on for a three-quarter-length maiden win launching his career at Belmont.
Free Drop Billy rallied at Churchill Downs to win his only start, and will substitute for stablemate Dak Attack, who is sidelined due to a sinus infection.
Via Egnatia’s got the breeding
The Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott has only one starter on Friday’s opening-day card at Saratoga, but he may have the most interesting horse on the 10-race program.
Via Egnatia, a 3-year-old son of Distorted Humor out of the Grade 1-winning dam Honest Lady, is entered in a first-level allowance going six furlongs on the dirt. Honest Lady, a half-sister to Empire Maker, produced First Defence, who in 2008 won the Grade 1 Forego here for Bobby Frankel.
Via Egnatia, owned by her breeders, Juddmonte Farms, went 1 for 5 in Europe for trainer John Gosden. He came to Mott in the spring and shows four works over the Oklahoma dirt training track.
“He’s bred for the dirt and he’s worked well here,” Mott said. “He’s bred to be quick. I thought we’d start him out here and go from there.”
Via Egnatia will be ridden by Julien Leparoux from post 5. The race includes the return of Takaful to the races. Takaful, trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, has not run back to his eightlength debut win from last October. Takaful was entered in a spot similar to Friday’s at Belmont, but ran off pre-race and was scratched.
Finley’s lucky charm works
Finley’s lucky charm breezed an easy half-mile in 50.58 seconds over the main track here Wednesday morning with her regular rider Brian Hernandez Jr. aboard. It was a relatively slow move, especially by her standards, but one that had trainer Bret Calhoun all smiles later that morning.
Finley’s lucky charm, a winner of six of her last seven starts, is pointing for the Grade 2 Honorable Miss here next Wednesday.
“Just a maintenance work,” said Calhoun. “She went off easy, finished up good, and galloped out well. I’ve been hearing rumors about how deep this track was and I didn’t want to see her get late and empty out, but it was just the opposite. I thought she got over it very easily and came back bouncing on her toes. She has a tendency to go fast in the morning. That’s why I brought Brian in to work her. He knows her very well and we got just what we wanted.”
Calhoun is hoping to use the six-furlong Honorable Miss as a stepping-stone for Finley’s lucky charm to the Grade 1 Ballerina later in the meet and ultimately the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar.