What to watch for: Sistercharlie gets started in Saratoga's Diana
It wasn’t trainer Chad Brown’s intention to bring champion Sistercharlie back from last year’s Breeders’ Cup so late the following season. But a defense of Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Diana at Saratoga could launch a campaign that still leads to another try at the Filly & Mare Turf.
The 5-year-old daughter of Myboycharlie, bred in Ireland and campaigned by Peter Brant, has breezed consistently since getting back on the work tab in May after a sickness in the spring prevented her from trying earlier season targets at Keeneland or Belmont Park.
“She’s been training great,” Brant told NBC over the weekend. “I’ve been out to see her work every week, and I’m very pleased with what I see.”
Sistercharlie, who began her career racing in France, hasn’t missed the exacta in six U.S. starts. After winning last year’s Diana, she went on to take Arlington Park’s Beverly D. Stakes (G1) along with the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, out-dueling Wild Illusion by a neck.
Named champion turf female, Sistercharlie will vie for Diana favoritism with one of this year’s early Eclipse Award frontrunners, Brown stablemate Rushing Fall, who’s already a winner of Keeneland’s Jenny Wiley (G1) and Belmont’s Just a Game (G1). Overall, the 4-year-old Rushing Fall is 8-for-9.
So something will have to give between those two, and others in the prospective field stand a chance against them. According to BloodHorse’s Bob Ehalt, Brown could have two more contenders in Homerique, who has won both her U.S. starts, and Rymska, second in Santa Anita Park’s Gamely (G1) to Vasilika, who heads this division out West.
Beau Recall, Mitchell Road and Secret Message are also probable, according to Ehalt.
The Diana will be accompanied on Saturday’s card by the Sanford Stakes (G3) for 2-year-olds at six furlongs. The races draw Wednesday along with a number of other weekend stakes of note.
Delaware Handicap looking loaded
Saturday’s Grade 2, $750,000 Delaware Handicap will include a trio of top older mares whose connections have to be thrilled there’s no Midnight Bisou to worry about this time.
Elate, who faced her twice this season at Oaklawn Park, leads this bunch set to go 1 1/4 miles. Last time out, the Bill Mott-trained daughter of Blame rallied in deep stretch to top Churchill Downs’ Fleur de Lis.
Blue Prize, edged out in the Fleur de Lis by Elate, will also return in this spot, while the Manitoba-bred Escape Clause, fourth in the Ogden Phipps (G1) won by — yep — Midnight Bisou, is also probable.
Mr. Money leads Indiana Derby
The list of probables willing to go in Saturday’s Grade 3, $500,000 Indiana Derby may take a hit with trainer Bret Calhoun confirming Mr. Money to run.
A dominant winner of Churchill Downs’ Pat Day Mile (G3) and Matt Winn Stakes (G3) in his most-recent starts, the son of Goldencents answered a big distance question last time when blitzing his rivals around two turns.
Before Mr. Money’s commitment, four horses who appeared in the Triple Crown series — Alwaysmining, Everfast, Gray Magician and Long Range Toddy — were all termed probable. We’ll see who shows up in the entries with the supporting cast including Math Wizard, a close second in the Ohio Derby (G3).
Game Winner could go in Los Alamitos Derby
Is there a 3-year-old in California willing to take on trainer Bob Baffert’s reigning 2-year-old champion, looking for his first victory in 2019? The nominations list for Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Los Alamitos Derby came up especially short.
It’s a list of six with Baffert potentially starting both Game Winner and a second entry in Kingly, a non-graded stakes winner. His other nomination, Mucho Gusto, is probable for the Haskell Invitational (G1) on July 20.
The non-Baffert trio includes Feeling Strong, Real Master, a French bred who has been idle since winning over a synthetic track at Deauville Jan. 5, and Vantastic. For a fee of $4,000, others could be supplemented.