Lady Eli, Antonoe exit Diana in good shape
With three wins on Saturday's card, including Lady Eli's triumphant return to the Saratoga winner's circle with her game victory in the Grade 1 Diana, trainer Chad Brown was in good spirits at his barn Sunday morning.
Lady Eli's victory, her first at the Spa since her maiden-breaking debut in August of 2014, was not without its tense moments, as Lady Eli and fellow Brown trainee Antonoe broke through the starting gate prematurely, delaying the race for a few anxious minutes before being cleared to run and finish first and third, respectively.
"It's not what you want to see in any race," said Brown. "You've got horses leaving the gate [early], that's nothing a trainer wants to see, but fortunately, both horses overcame it and ran terrific."
Reporting that both runners exited the race in good shape, Brown wasn't hesitant to say yesterday's win may have been Lady Eli's best race to date.
"She really dug down deep and put her nose on the wire first," said Brown. "Ran down a horse that's giving eight pounds to her that was on the lead and on the fence the whole way saving ground. In light of the gate [incident], weight, going wide and still overcoming, it's probably her best performance."
Multiple graded stakes winner Paid Up Subscriber, who last out ran a game second to Songbird in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps on June 17 at Belmont Park, visited the main track this morning with a bullet-earning half-mile breeze. The 5-year-old daughter of Candy Ride covered the distance in 47.89 seconds, her final preparation for the Grade 3, $200,000 Shuvee on Sunday, July 30.
"She worked terrific," said Brown. "Her final work was this morning and she's on target for the Shuvee."
Lastly, Brown reported that multiple graded stakes turf runner Wake Forest was given a freshening following his last workout at Belmont on July 16 with the hopes of returning in the fall.
"He's been in constant training for quite a while now," said Brown. "He's been a really good horse to us, so we are going to take care of him and give him a couple months' rest at the farm and let him work on a couple minor things we found. Hopefully, he comes back and can continue his career, later in the year or next year."
Source: NYRA Communications