It was no surprise to see trainer Chad Brown standing in the winner's circle after saddling four out of the five runners in Saturday's GI Diana S., including the race's defending winner and imposing 1-4 favorite 'TDN Rising Star' In Italian (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}).
It was the longest-priced runner of the Brown-trained quartet and Juddmonte homebred Whitebeam (GB) (Caravaggio), however, who gave Brown his eighth win in the Diana with an upset nose victory at nearly 8-1 over the aforementioned chalk in Saturday's feature at the Spa.
“It's a very big part of our annual schedule,” Brown said of the Diana. “We circle this race early on and through the years, I've had so many nice fillies sent to me and my team from all over. Really, my team deserves all the credit for developing these horses. You're talking about eight runnings of this race (we've) won with all different kinds of horses–you have to have a lot of talent to be able to work with horses of all shapes and sizes from all over the world to continually show up in this race and have them ready. They deserve all the credit.”
Whitebeam, a three-time winner and narrow runner-up in Newmarket's Al Basti Equiworld Dubai British EBF Rosemary S. for Harry and Roger Charlton during her six-race campaign overseas at three, made two prior starts for Brown this term.
The gray came up just a neck short while making her U.S. debut off the bench in the Plenty of Grace S. at Aqueduct Apr. 16, then ran to the money as the heavy favorite in a live renewal of the GIII Gallorette S. at Pimlico May 20. The runner-up that day Sopran Basilea (Ire) (Night of Thunder {Ire}) returned to win the GIII Robert G. Dick Memorial S. at Delaware July 1. The third-place finisher Bipartisanship (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) followed with a win in the PTHA President's Cup S. at Parx June 18.
Drawn widest of all in post five in the Diana, Whitebeam raced on the outside in third as In Italian, as expected, led through fractions of :23.96 and :48.00 over the going listed as firm. Whitebeam set her sights on her stablemate at the top of the stretch, and, after a long drive, just got up by the slimmest of margins to give Brown a one-two finish. It was a half-length back to the Mark Casse-trained Fev Rover (Ire) (Gutaifan {Ire}) in third.
In a stretch battle between stablemates, #5 White Beam defeats #2 In Italian to win the G1 Diana S. at Saratoga! 🏆
Flavien Prat piloted the Chad Brown trainee.
🎥 #TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/zLtxCWjHvH
— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) July 15, 2023
“It was really tight there and In Italian ran her heart out,” Brown said. “I think the turf's pretty soft and she was going pretty quick there. Whitebeam, she ran just a little bit better today and was able to handle the soft ground and showed a lot of heart late. [Whitebeam] trained as good as [any] in my top handful of horses all winter at Payson Park. I was shocked she got beat first time out [in the U.S.] to be honest. She trained really well and I'm just so fortunate Juddmonte sent me this horse in excellent shape. This might be her limit [in distance] as far as what she wants to do, but she's just a beautiful, well-bred horse; a typical Juddmonte horse. She's always trained brilliantly.”
Brown added that Whitebeam and In Italian could target Keeneland's GI First Lady S. Oct. 7. The latter won the one-mile contest in Lexington last fall.
Pedigree Notes:
Whitebeam becomes the second Grade I/Group 1 winner worldwide for Caravaggio. He is responsible for nine graded/group winners. Juddmonte homebred and three-time winner Sleep Walk (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), a half-sister to G1 St. Leger winner Logician (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and MGSW and GI E.P. Taylor S. runner-up Suffused (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}), has also produced the 2-year-old filly Inversion (GB) (Frankel {GB}), a yearling colt by the same sire and a colt by No Nay Never of this year.
Saturday, Saratoga
DIANA S.-GI, $485,000, Saratoga, 7-15, 4yo/up, f/m, 1 1/8mT, 1:48.33, fm.
1–WHITEBEAM (GB), 118, f, 4, by Caravaggio
1st Dam: Sleep Walk (GB), by Oasis Dream (GB)
2nd Dam: Scuffle (GB), by Daylami (Ire)
3rd Dam: Tantina, by Distant View
1ST GRADE I WIN. O/B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd. (GB); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Flavien Prat. $275,000. Lifetime Record: SP-Eng, 9-5-2-1, $396,308. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus* Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–In Italian (GB), 124, m, 5, by Dubawi (Ire)
1st Dam: Florentina (Aus) (GSW-Aus, $250,958), by Redoute's Choice (Aus)
2nd Dam: Celebria (Aus), by Peintre Celebre
3rd Dam: Twyla (Aus), by Danehill
'TDN Rising Star'. (475,000gns Ylg '19 TATOCT). O-Peter M. Brant; B-Fairway Thoroughbreds (GB); T-Chad C. Brown. $100,000.
3–Fev Rover (Ire), 122, m, 5, by Gutaifan (Ire)
1st Dam: Laurelita (Ire), by High Chaparral (Ire)
2nd Dam: Chervil (GB), by Dansili (GB)
3rd Dam: Nashmeel, by Blushing Groom (Fr)
(£20,000 Ylg '19 GOFFPR; 695,000gns 3yo '21 TATMA). O-Tracy Farmer; B-Manister House Stud (Ire); T-Mark E. Casse. $60,000.
Margins: NO, HF, 5 1/4. Odds: 7.80, 0.35, 9.20.
Also Ran: Marketsegmentation, Fluffy Socks.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
