DIVERSIFY ALL ALONE IN THE WHITNEY
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Star New York-breds Diversify and Mind Your Biscuits occupied much of the chatter leading up to Saturday’s $1.2 million Whitney Stakes. Would Diversify manage to run off with the Whitney, just as he had the Jockey Club Gold Cup last fall and last month’s Suburban? Could the one-turn terror Mind Your Biscuits successfully stretch out around two turns – and run down the free-wheeling Diversify?
The answer turned out to be “A.” Breaking sharpest of all, and successfully clearing the field to lead going into the first turn, Diversify (the 3-2 posttime favorite) set off on what became a lonely 1 1/8-mile voyage through the slop. Longshot Dalmore (52-1) stayed closest down the backstretch, with Tapwrit and Backyard Heaven keeping within range.
By the time the field reached the far turn, however, it was obvious – if it hadn’t been before – that Diversify wasn’t slowing down. The margin, which had been two lengths after a half-mile in :46.50, grew to four or five on the turn.
Turning for home, there were a lot of dirty faces in the Whitney field, but Diversify’s wasn’t one of them. Striding through the stretch, with little encouragement from Irad Ortiz Jr, the son of Bellamy Road passed the eighth pole 3½ lengths in front. The margin was still 3½ at the wire,
with Mind Your Biscuits holding off 38-1 longshot Discreet Lover by a halflength for second. The final time was 1:49.62.
“He is such a cool horse,” said winning trainer Rick Violette. “Irad really threw down the gauntlet at the half- mile pole. [ Diversify] didn’t quite drag him down there, but [ Irad] said, ‘Let’s go’ and dared anyone to catch up.
“We planned on being very aggressive, and see what would happen,” Violette added. “If it were to be a mistake, so be it.”
“I knew somebody was going to be coming, no matter what,” said Ortiz. “He proved he could keep going. He was steady. He wasn’t dying at the end, he’d keep trying. He did it the right way.”
Mind Your Biscuits (31) gave it everything he had. At one point late on the turn, with other horses dropping off, it looked as though the son of Posse might yet pose a threat. But it was not to be. Mind Your Biscuits also showed grit in holding off Discreet Lover for the place.
“I was real excited,” said Biscuit’s trainer, Chad Summers. “I thought Diversify might get a little tired, but he kept going. Our plan was that if he got loose to just make a little bit of an early move and try and get to him. We were too far back and [Diversify] had too much left.”
Tapwrit, Good Samaritan, McCraken, Backyard Heaven and Dalmore followed the top three in that order.
Diversify, who races for Lauren and Ralph M. Evans, was bred in New York by Fred W. Hertrich III and John D. Fielding. The 5-year- old gelding sports a 10-2- 0 record from 15 starts and has now earned $ 1,959,425. The Whitney follows his major New York wins in the Jockey Club Gold Cup and Suburban.
The start of the race was delayed 44 minutes by severe electrical storms, accompanied by swirling winds, that rolled through the Saratoga area. The track, which had been rated “fast” for the previous race, had been downgraded to “sloppy (sealed)” by post time of the Whitney.