Stars line up for Diana
In deciding which Saratoga stakes produce the strongest and most memorable fields, the Whitney and Travers are usually the first races that come to mind. But other stakes sometimes become part of the conversation, including the Personal Ensign, Alabama, Woodward and Forego.
Another race that seems to reliably produce compelling fields is the Diana, which will be run for the 82nd time on Sunday. Only six horses are entered, but five of them are among the top ten turf females in the latest DRF poll. They include #1, #2 and #3 (Rushing Fall, Starship Jubilee and Sistercharlie) as well as a pair of up-and-coming 4-year-olds, Mean Mary (#6) and Call Me Love (#9).
Rushing Fall and Sistercharlie together have won 16 graded races, a dozen of them G1s. Chad Brown, who conditions both mares, has picked his spots carefully in an effort to keep them from having to race against each other. Consequently, they’ve met only once – in last year’s Diana, in which Sistercharlie, coming off a 7½-month layoff, ran down Rushing Fall in the final sixteenth to post a powerful 1 ¾-length triumph.
Sistercharlie came up short in her 2020 debut, finishing third behind Starship Jubilee and Call Me Love four weeks ago in the Ballston Spa. She figures to be primed for Sunday, however, as she bids for her third straight win in the Diana. Rushing Fall should be as formidable as ever, having won the Beaugay (G3) and Jenny Wiley (G1) in her two previous outings this year.
As for Starship Jubilee, with four stakes wins in as many starts, the mul
tiple Canadian champion is having arguably her best year at seven. Mean Mary has racked up three graded wins in 2020 but will be making a significant class jump in the G1 Diana; she’ll also be shortening up to nine furlongs from the 10-12 furlongs she ran in her three stakes victories.
Call Me Love, a twotime group winner in Italy, was runner-up in both the Beaugay and Ballston Spa. Secret Message has a win in three starts this year and exits a third in the ungraded Perfect Sting at Saratoga just nine days ago.
A Fourstardave reunion
Got Stormy’s rousing victory in last year’s Fourstardave Handicap was notable for two reasons. One, the now 5-year-old mare set a course record for a mile on the Mellon turf. And two, she became the first female to win the 35-year-old race. Uni, now six, finished third, a head behind runner-up Raging Bull, as females claimed two of the top three spots.
In the sort of thing that seems to happen more often in turf racing than in dirt, Got Stormy, Raging Bull and Uni are all back in Saratoga for another crack at each other in today’s Fourstardave.
Got Stormy is off to a slow start in 2020; her best finish in four outings was a second in the Kilroe Mile. Most recently, the Mark Casse trainee ran fourth in the Poker Stakes on the Fourth of July. Raging Bull, third in the Maker’s Mark Mile (G1) in her last effort, won the Shoemaker Mile (G1) in her 2020 opener.
The 5-year-old Chad Brown-trained horse knows where the Saratoga winner’s circle is, having won the Hall of Fame Stakes and the Saranac here as a 3-yearold. Uni, last year’s champion turf female, has raced only once in 2020, finishing third in the Just a Game (G1).
Without Parole, Halladay, Casa Creed, Valid Point, Emmaus and Chewing Gum complete the field of nine.