Star turf mare Rushing Fall (More Than Ready) avenged a loss as the favorite in last year's GI Diana S. Sunday at Saratoga, wearing down pacesetting Mean Mary (Scat Daddy) in a thrilling stretch duel to earn her sixth Grade I victory. The win also gave trainer Chad Brown a remarkable fifth consecutive score in the Diana and sixth overall.
Named a 'TDN Rising Star' for her impressive debut victory at Belmont three seasons ago, the e Five Racing Thoroughbreds colorbearer backed that up with a victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Reeling off a trio of Grade I triumphs in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup S., Longines Just A Game S. and Coolmore Jenny Wiley S. from fall of 2018 to last spring, she couldn't quite go with champion stablemate Sistercharlie (Ire) (Myboycharlie {Ire}) when runner-up in last year's Diana. Producing her only dud thus far with a fourth in the GI First Lady S. to close out her 4-year-old campaign, the bay bounced back with a conquest of the GIII Beaugay S. in her seasonal bow before a successful, course-record-setting title defense in the Jenny Wiley last out.
Favored per usual, though not by a large margin as Mean Mary attracted robust interest as the close second choice, Rushing Fall broke sharply following a gate delay that resulted in the late scratch of longshot Secret Message (Hat Trick {Jpn}). Allowing her main rival to go on with it heading into the clubhouse turn under Javier Castellano, the multimillionaire traveled in a clear second up the backstretch behind modest fractions of :23.60 and :48.38. Moving up to the leader's flank as the quintet bunched up through three-quarters in 1:11.90, she drew on even terms nearing the lane and the top pair sped away from the other three soon after straightening for home. Sticking her nose in front for the first time at the sixteenth pole, Rushing Fall narrowly did the better work from there and struck the wire a head to the good, securing her 11th success in 14 career trips to the post. It was 2 1/2 lenghts back to Sistercharlie in third.
“She knows how to win. She's a remarkable horse,” Brown said. “This is a horse that has won Grade Is in four straight years. This is very rare company to do this. She's a horse of a lifetime for anybody–for an owner, for a trainer, for racing. We're very fortunate that [e Five's] Bob Edwards put her back in training. Her last race of the year last year was not good, she's worth a lot of money and they could easily have sold her and bred her. They gave her the time off and we sent her down to Stonestreet in Ocala like we do every winter where they do a fantastic job and then my team got a hold of her and took it from there. They executed like they always have, and the filly really came through. She's special.”
The final running time of 1:45.88 represented the third-fastest clocking in the 82-year history of the Diana, behind Hard Not to Like (Hard Spun)'s 1:45.22 in 2015 and Hall of Famer Waya (Fr) (Faraway Son)'s 1:45.40 in 1978.
“The plan was to go to the lead,” Castellano said. “I broke out of the gate and tried to send to dictate the pace, but Mean Mary never took up and tried to take the lead. I tried to ride smart, it's a mile and an eighth and I thought it was smarter to save something for the end. Today, we were very fortunate. I rode her like she was the best filly in the race. She's very tactical. She doesn't have to be on the lead, she can come from behind also, but I didn't see much other speed in the race, so we tracked the other filly every single step of the way and when I asked her, she responded. She knows how to win. I'm so lucky to ride her because she's one of the best fillies I've rode in my life.”
“It means a lot,” Brown added of his fifth straight Diana win. “This is a very important race that we point for every year and we've been fortunate through the years to have horses that really fit. She's a great horse and she ran a super race today.”
Pedigree Notes:
One of 203 stakes winners, 91 graded stakes winners and 24 Grade I winners for More Than Ready, Rushing Fall is the third black-type performer out of Autumnal, a $260,000 purchase at Keeneland November in 2007. The 18-year-old mare, a full-sister to GSP Sisti's Pride out of GSP Marie J, produced a full-brother to Rushing Fall Mar. 24. Third dam In My cap was a five-time stakes winner in Canada and is responsible for the dam of GISW Albert the Great (Go for Gin). This is also the female family of recent GIII Prairie Meadows Cornhusker H. winner Night Ops (Warrior's Reward).
Sunday, Saratoga
DIANA S.-GI, $485,000, Saratoga, 8-23, 4yo/up, f/m, 1 1/8mT, 1:45.88, fm.
1–RUSHING FALL, 124, m, 5, by More Than Ready
1st Dam: Autumnal, by Forestry
2nd Dam: Marie J, by Mr. Prospector
3rd Dam: In My Cap, by Vice Regent
'TDN Rising Star' ($320,000 Ylg '16 FTSAUG). O-e Five Racing
Thoroughbreds; B-Fred W. Hertrich III & John D. Fielding (KY);
T-Chad C. Brown; J-Javier Castellano. $275,000. Lifetime
Record: 14-11-2-0, $2,553,000. *1/2 to Milam (Street Sense),
SW & MGSP, $239,651. Werk Nick Rating: B.
Click for eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Mean Mary, 120, f, 4, by Scat Daddy
1st Dam: Karlovy Vary, by Dynaformer
2nd Dam: The Right Pew, by Pulpit
3rd Dam: Packet, by Polish Navy
O-Alex G. Campbell, Jr.; B-Alex G. Campbell, Jr. Thoroughbreds,
LLC (KY); T-H. Graham Motion. $100,000.
3–Sistercharlie (Ire), 124, m, 6, by Myboycharlie (Ire)
1st Dam: Starlet's Sister (Ire), by Galileo (Ire)
2nd Dam: Premiere Creation (Fr), by Green Tune
3rd Dam: Allwaki, by Miswaki
(€12,000 Ylg '15 AR15). O-Peter M. Brant; B-Ecurie Des
Monceaux (IRE); T-Chad C. Brown. $60,000.
Margins: NK, 2HF, 1 1/4. Odds: 1.40, 2.10, 3.25.
Also Ran: Starship Jubilee, Call Me Love (GB). Scratched: Secret Message. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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