Miss Temple City Headlines Outstanding Diana

There's a female turf runner who captured a Grade I over males at Keeneland and shipped overseas to tackle Royal Ascot last out who will make her stateside return at Saratoga as the favorite in the GI Diana S. No, it's not champion turf mare Tepin (Bernstein), but a filly who might soon be hot on her heels, Miss Temple City (Temple City), leading a strong field of 10 in the Spa stakes staple.

Owned by Sagamore Farm, Needle In A Haystack and The Club Racing, Miss Temple City tipped her quality with a close fourth at 50-1 in last year's G1 Coronation S. at Ascot behind sensational MG1SW Ervedya (Siyouni {Fr}) and subsequent GI Breeders' Cup Turf winner Found (Galileo {Ire}). A head second with traffic trouble in the GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup in her sophomore finale, the dark bay filly confirmed her star credentials with a 1 1/4-length score over males in the GI Maker's 46 Mile Apr. 15 at Keeneland. Returning to Ascot in the G2 Duke of Cambridge S. June 15, Miss Temple City finished fourth after being bottled up for much of the running. She has two posted interim breezes, most recently going a half-mile on the Fair Hill turf course in a best-of-11 :49 flat.

“I've been very happy with how she's come back from England, otherwise I wouldn't be racing her,” trainer Graham Motion said. “She's had a good month and I couldn't be happier with her. You wonder if the trip might affect her, running against those conditions. But I don't see any negative effects that it's had on her. I felt like when she came back to America, I targeted the Diana, and everything fell into place.”

Miss Temple City's stiffest challenge may come in the form of Martin S. Schwartz's Wekeela (Fr) (Hurricane Run {Ire}). A Group 3 winner in her native France, the bay finished fourth in the G1 Prix de l'Opera at Longchamp in her final start for trainer Jean-Claude Rouget. Transferred to the Chad Brown barn for her 4-year-old campaign, Wekeela was second behind Tepin in the Apr. 16 GI Jenny Wiley S. after breaking poorly and completed the exacta again in Santa Anita's GI Gamely S. May 30. Brown will also be represented by GII New York S. winner Dacita (Chi) (Scat Daddy), Mrs McDougal (Medaglia d'Oro), victress of last year's GII Lake George S. over this course, and longshot Rainha Da Bateria (Broken Vow).

Todd Pletcher will start a pair of runners, headed by the speedy Isabella Sings (Eskendereya), who takes her first crack at Grade I company since finishing 12th in 2014's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Filly Turf. The Siena Farms homebred came close to upsetting Tepin in the GII Hillsborough S. Mar. 12 at Tampa, opening an 18-length lead at one point before finishing second by a length. She comes into this spot off a wire-to-wire score in the GIII Eatontown S. June 25 at Monmouth and projects to be the controlling speed.