Another Remarkable Victory for Lady Eli
Just when you think that there are not enough superlatives to use to describe the accomplishments of Lady Eli, she found yet another remarkable way to win, when she battled down the stretch to get the victory in the $500,000 Diana (G1) at Saratoga.
As the distinguished field of six fillies and mares was loaded into the gate awaiting the start, Lady Eli’s stablemate in the Chad Brown barn, Antonoe, broke through the gate and then right after Lady Eli pushed her stall doors open. Antonoe got farther down the track than the Sheep Pond Partners runner, but there was plenty of reason for concern. But, this is Lady Eli that we are talking about here, the five-year-old mare that has overcome one adversity after another in her career.
“You can probably walk through the grandstand here and talk to the people who actually wager their money every day, and they'll tell you most of the times that happens they don't win,” said Brown. “She just overcame that much breaking through the gate. A remarkable performance.”
On this day, she broke through the gate, gave eight pounds to Quidura who finished second, and survived a stewards’ inquiry. Yet Lady Eli showed her trademark determination and as always found a way to win, today by a mere head margin.
Once the horses were loaded back in the gate and the race started. It was Quidura who would be the pacesetter all the way around the track with Dickinson nipping at her heels a length behind. Then, it was My Impression and Antonoe spaced a length each behind. Irad Ortiz Jr., Lady Eli’s regular rider, was content to sit in fifth place 4 ½ lengths behind Quidura. Lady Eli was running by herself, which gave her a chance to relax.
The fractions were quick with Quidura tripping the timer in 23.59, 47.51, 1:11.46, and then a fast mile in 1:34.54. Around the final turn Ortiz had swung Lady Eli to the outside to make her move. Quidura had no quit in her as the eventual winner took dead aim. Lady Eli has a way of winning, it is never by a lot, and right before the wire it was her head in front.
Brown added, “The fractions we're solid enough, but then again, I know this horse on the lead is a real quality horse. What I liked at that point was that she was alone back there. I felt confident that Irad could at least give her a clear run in the stretch and that's all I asked in the paddock. If you just get her clear, I'm confident she'll get there, and she did."
As they battled on the front end, Antonoe was trying to find room on the rail to finish her move, but the going got very tight and Javier Castellano had to take up in the final strides. The INQUIRY sign went up and the riders of the top three finishers all went to the phone to the Stewards. In the end, the decision was that there would be no change and the celebration of the large crowd in the winner’s circle could commence.
For Lady Eli, the Diana would be her fifth career grade one victory, lifting her stats to 12: 9-3-0 with earnings of $2,719,800. Her three defeats came by small margins of a head, a nose, and three-quarters for a total of one length.
Sent off at odds of .95-1, Lady Eli paid $3.90, 2.70, and 2.10 across the board. With Quidura, the $2 exacta paid 22.20 and the $2 trifecta down to Antonoe was worth $66.50.
In the end Brown said, "Today was one of her greatest races to date. Maybe her best. Giving eight pounds to the horse she ran down late in the stretch after breaking through the gate, going a little wide, she just overcame everything. Today she proved she's one of the all-time greats. It was her determination. Proud she didn't hang there in the end. She's always drove past another horse as long as she can see them. She might have been undefeated, three times she's gotten beat late in the stretch from behind. That said, I think she's one of the all-time greats."