Head to Head: 2 picks to beat She Feels Pretty at Saratoga
Saturday’s $500,000 Grade 1 Diana Stakes attracted an elite field of six older fillies and mares who will vie 1 1/8 miles over Saratoga’s inner turf course.
Although not a qualifier for the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, five Diana alumni have gone on to win or place in the Filly & Mare Turf, with four earning Eclipse honors since 2011.
Chad Brown’s charges have dominated the Diana like no other. Brown stood in the winner’s circle in eight of the last nine years. His consecutive streak was interrupted by Charlie Appleby in 2021. This year, Brown sends out Dynamic Pricing and Excellent Truth, who just ran 1-2 in the Just a Game (G1) on June 6. That race was at a mile—now they stretch out a furlong and renew their rivalry over a layout that has historically favored tactical speed.
Featured as race 11 of 12, the Diana Stakes has a post time of 4:29 p.m.. EDT. The turf should be firm.
We review the data to determine whether this is an all Chad Brown affair or if someone else can claim victory in this exciting edition of the Diana Stakes.
| Laurie | Ashley |
| Never out of the money in seven career starts, She Feels Pretty established her Grade 1 credentials as a 2-year-old and more recently went on a four-race win streak at four tracks, including a half-length finish in the 1 3/16-mile New York (G1) over Saratoga’s yielding turf. Although it was a workmanlike performance, the effort earned She Feels Pretty a 91 Brisnet Speed Rating and a 98 late-pace figure, the highest in the Diana field. Last year, the Cherie DeVaux trainee outperformed Dynamic Pricing twice, including in the Lake Placid (G2) at Saratoga. She Feels Pretty breezed a second-to-last bullet four furlongs in 48.75, seconds the best of 51 for the day June 30 over Saratoga’s training track. Contender. | Trained by Cherie DeVaux, She Feels Pretty has never missed the trifecta in her career and enters on a four-race win streak. She’s 2: 1-1-0 at Saratoga and won the 1 3/16-mile New York (G1) in her most recent start. None of the four fillies who have beaten her are in this race, and Dynamic Pricing is the only one in the field whom she previously has raced against. She has the best overall turf speed with a 102 Brisnet Speed Rating from last year’s Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1) but received just a 91 for her last-out effort in the New York (G1). Regular rider John Velazquez has the call. Contender. |
| 2. Choisya (GB) | |
| A multiple Group 2 winner at Meydan in Dubai, Choisya transferred her form to Keeneland, where she held off a troubled Excellent Truth to win the Jenny Wiley (G1) by a half-length. Perhaps she didn’t care for the yielding surface when finishing at the back of the pack in the Just a Game (G1) behind Dynamic Pricing and Excellent Truth. The Simon Crisford trainee earned a 98 Brisnet rating in the Jenny Wiley, and I’m chalking up her last effort to not liking the surface. Contender. | Trained by Simon Crisford, Choisya enters off a disappointing 7th-place finish in the Just a Game. The argument could be made that she didn’t like the yielding surface she faced that day, but if you go back and look at her record, she’s 13: 5-2-0 on wet turf overall. She beat Excellent Truth and Be Your Best two starts back in the Jenny Wiley but finished behind Dynamic Pricing and Excellent Truth, who went 1-2, in the Just a Game. She has the potential to be very good, but I do wonder if Saratoga was the problem and not the moisture in the turf. Luis Saez has the call. Exotics. |
| Lady Claypoole turned the corner as a 5-year-old, winning three straight before finishing second behind Be Your Best in Santa Anita’s Gamely (G1). Lady Claypoole was beaten by 2 3/4 lengths but edged out the solid multiple graded winner Liguria by a half-length. It was a strong effort for Lady Claypoole’s first Grade 1 appearance, as the Richard Baltas trainee earned a 93 speed figure. But this up-and-comer is taking on the best turf fillies in the east. Is her A Game good enough? Exotics. | Trained by Richard Baltas, Lady Claypoole enters off a runner-up effort to Be Your Best in the Gamely. This 5-year old mare has done most of her racing in California and entered graded-stakes company just this year. She won the Santa Ana (G3) but could not run down front-running Be Your Best, finishing 2 3/4 lengths behind that rival. Lady Claypoole is 6: 2-2-1 at 1 1/8 mile, but this will be her first start at Saratoga, where she will face a much tougher field. Joel Rosario will get the leg up. Pass. |
| Group 1-placed in France, Excellent Truth found trouble in her U.S. bow in the late stages of the Jenny Wiley (G1) as she was cut off while making her bid and had to alter course, unable to get to Choisya by the wire. The Chad Brown trainee faced her stablemate Dynamic Pricing in the Just A Game. The pair raced as a team down the backstretch, but Excellent Truth circled six wide around the far turn. She made a bid but deferred to Dynamic Pricing in the stretch. Excellent Truth finished 3/4 length in second and should enjoy the extra distance and firmer ground. Exotics. | Now trained by Chad Brown, Excellent Truth enters off three straight second-place finishes, two of those for Brown. She was a half-length behind winner Choisya in the Jenny Wiley after being shut off and steadied and 3/4 lengthsbehind winner Dynamic Pricing in the Just a Game. She was a Group 3 winner and Group 1 placed in France and appears to be blossoming as an older runner. The Just a Game produced a slow final time, so take the 85 Brisnet Speed Rating she received in that race with a grain a salt, especially when compared with the 98 she earned in the Jenny Wiley. Flavien Prat has the mount. Contender. |
| Dynamic Pricing notched her second consecutive victory and first Grade 1 score in the Just a Game, zipping past the pacesetters to clear by 3/4 length. The 4-year-old did well at Saratoga to finish a close third in last year’s Lake Placid (G2) behind She Feels Pretty, and the one-run closer should appreciate the extra distance. Contender. | Also from the Chad Brown barn, Dynamic Pricing is undefeated in two starts this year, taking the Beaugay (G3) and the Just a Game. She’s finished off the board only twice in her career, placing seventh both times. But she was beaten by only 3 3/4 lengths in the Florida Oaks (G3) and by five lengths in the Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1) when finishing seventh, so neither were terrible efforts. She had no answer to She Feels Pretty or Dynamic Pricing last year but did best Excellent Truth and Choisya last out. I stated already that the Just a Game produced a slow final time, an 86 for Dynamic Pricing as the winner, but Dynamic Pricing also received only an 87 for the Beaugay (G3). She’ll need to do much better than that here, particularly as she seemed to appreciate a yielding surface better than some of her rivals. Dylan Davis has the return call. Pass. |
| 6. Be Your Best | |
| Be Your Best had her three-race win streak snapped when she tired to eighth in the Jenny Wiley, likely because of the give in the turf. She beat up the California contingent, winning the Gamely by 2 3/4 lengths under a hand ride, and earned a 96 speed rating. The Saffie Joseph Jr. trainee is the lone speed of the Diana and could surprise on the front end, but her late-pace figures are low. Exotics. | Trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., Be Your Best enters off a gate-to-wire victory in the Gamely at Santa Anita. She also won the Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational (G2) but sandwiched an eighth-place run in the Jenny Wiley between that and the Gamely. Be Your Best’s best work has come in California or at Gulfstream, where the competition has been lighter. She finished last against a couple in this field the last time they met, but maybe this mare will get a boost with no other pace in the race. Irad Ortiz Jr. has the return call. Exotics. |
Final thoughts
Laurie: Nine Diana heroines captured their last start, and all 15 placed in the top three. Only three lost ground in their previous start. Fillies exiting the Just a Game Stakes have won the Diana six times.
No particular running style is favored. Pacesetters and pressers captured four of the last five editions, and closers were on a roll from 2015 to 2018.
Here’s how contentious the Diana Stakes is. Four favorites in 15 years have won, and the last was in 2020. Four have placed worse than fourth.
In the last four years, fillies from posts 5 and up have prevailed. Include the filly in post 1 in your superfecta tickets, as they’ve placed second or third in the last four years, and only four in 15 years haven’t done well.
Chad Brown dominates the Diana Stakes. Surprisingly, his last trio of winners offered double-digit payouts, so bet the “other” Brown horse to win. He’s completed the exacta in two of the last three years.
Dynamic Pricing will benefit if there’s a lively pace. Excellent Truth may follow her stablemate into a top-three finish. She Feels Pretty has tactical speed, and crafty Johnny V will have her within striking distance. Toss Choisya’s last race. She didn’t care for the yielding turf last time out.
Ashley: No bones about it, this is a very good field. Five of six entrants enter off either a win or a runner-up effort in a Grade 1 event. The sixth runner is a Grade 1 winner herself but maybe didn’t like the yielding surface she encountered last out.
I don’t love Be Your Best, but she’s the lone speed in this race. She didn’t fare very well against some of these same rivals two starts back, but she rectified that with a blazing effort in the Gamely last out. She has enough early speed that she can create space between herself and the others, and anyone wanting to try to keep close to her will have to go outside their comfort zone in order to do so. So I’ll take a shot with her successfully playing catch me if you can.
She Feels Pretty is less than a length shy of bringing in a seven-race win streak, losing the Lake Placid (G2) by a neck and the Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1) by 3/4 lengths last year. On paper she’s the one to beat, but she’s going to need to be able to run down Be Your Best.
Excellent Truth is the other mare I really like in this spot. She’s finished second in three straight Grade-Group 1 events and was a bit unlucky in the Jenny Wiley. I expect another effort similar to what we’ve seen, and then I’ll take the one who beat her at Keeneland, Choisya.
Selections
| Laurie | Ashley |
| 5. Dynamic Pricing | 6. Be Your Best |
| 1. She Feels Pretty | 1. She Feels Pretty |
| 4. Excellent Truth | 4. Excellent Truth |
| 2. Choisya | 2. Choisya |