Brown going for 6th straight Diana
Lemista is morning-line favorite, although rain may be a factor in race
Might as well rename the Diana Handicap the Chad Brown Handicap.
The Mechanicville trainer has downright owned the $500,000, 1 1⁄8-mile race on the inner turf course. He has won the race six times in his career, including the past five runnings of the race, which is the first Grade I race of the Saratoga meet.
“We’ve had tremendous success in the race with so many talented fillies through the years,” Brown said outside his barn on the Oklahoma Training Track this week. “It’s a remarkable record and I have to give a lot of credit to my team and to the horses. It’s a tough race. There has been no Diana in that group that we’ve won that has been easy.”
Brown has two of the six horses signed up for the Diana, which is for fillies and mares aged 4 and up. He has the morning-line favorite in 5-2 Lemista, who came to Brown this year after racing in Ireland for her first seven tries. The 4-year-old filly, who will be ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., finished second in her first start in the U.S. when she was a half-length behind the Bill Motttrained Harvey’s Lil Goil in the Grade III Beaugay at Belmont on May 8.
The other Brown horse in the Diana is Pocket Square, another foreign import. This 4-year-old mare, who will be ridden by John Velazquez for the first time, started her career in Europe, won her first start here on April 7, and then was a puzzling fifth in the Grade I Just A Game at Belmont last month. The biggest opponent to Brown may be the weather. Heavy rain is in Saturday’s forecast.
“It’s definitely concerning,” Brown said. “I would rather the turf be firmer for my horses. I think they can handle it. Lemista showed in her form she could possibly handle it (in Ireland). We thought that Pocket Square could, but she didn’t run (well) on soft turf in the Just A Game, so I’m concerned.”
Pretty Birdie bounces back from Schuylerville
The day after 2-year-old filly Pretty Birdie won the Grade III Schuylerville on opening day at the Spa, the gray juvenile was on her toes at trainer Norm Casse’s barn on the Oklahoma.
“She came back awesome,” said Casse, who got his first Saratoga graded stakes win with the Schuylerville. “One thing I like most about this filly is that she really loves being a racehorse. You can tell she really enjoyed herself (Thursday) and she is ready to do it again.”
Casse admitted he was nervous for the Schuylerville, not because he was concerned Pretty Birdie would not perform, but he wanted to win the race badly because the filly is owned by Marylou Whitney Stables. Marylou, the longtime leading socialite in Saratoga, died in 2019. Her widower, John Hendrickson, has kept the stable going.
“I was more nervous (for the Schuylerville) than I have been for any other race,” Casse said.
The plan is still for Pretty Birdie to return to run in the Grade I Spinaway here on closing weekend.
Rinaldi wins Forbidden Apple
No doubt about it. Rinaldi loves Saratoga.
The 5-year-old gelding showed once again his affinity for the Spa when he won the Grade III, $150,000 Forbidden Apple, a one-mile race on the inner turf course Friday.
Trained by James Bond and ridden by Luis Saez — who won three races on Friday for the second straight day — Rinaldi took to the lead from the start and never gave it up. He won the race by a half-length over Value Proposition, who was ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. for Chad Brown.
Rinaldi has won four of five career starts at Saratoga. He is a combined two wins in six starts at Belmont and Aqueduct.
It was the second win of the day for Bond, who also took the third race with Giacosa. That filly was also ridden by Saez. At the recently completed Belmont meet, Bond did not have a winner in 35 starts.
“You just have to keep fighting every day to turn it around. It’s a humbling deal,” Bond said.
Rinaldi covered the mile in 1:35.70 over a course labeled firm
and paid $6.70, $3.80 and $3.10.
Horse euthanized in finale
Friday’s 10th race was marred when Strong Moment fractured his left front leg after breaking down inside the eighth pole in the 5 1⁄2-furlong race on the Mellon Turf Course. Jockey Luis Cardenas was thrown forward off the horse and was down for several minutes before being put on a backboard and taken off the track via ambulance.
Cardenas, who was awake and alert, was taken to Albany Medical Center for further evaluation. Dr. Anthony Verderosa, the director of New York Racing Association veterinarians, reported that Strong Moment, a 3-year-old filly, was euthanized on the track.