And thus, we have the biggest storyline for Saturday’s Saratoga Derby, the second leg of the New York Racing Association’s Turf Triple. It’s also one of three Grade 1s on Saratoga’s Saturday Whitney Day card.

The 11-horse field of 3-year-olds goes 1 3/16 miles on Saratoga’s Mellon Turf Course. They do so with a lot of familiar faces in the starting gate. Seven of the 12 horses from last month’s Grade 1 Belmont Derby — the opening Turf Triple leg — are in the Saratoga Derby field.

That includes the top four finishers: Classic Causeway, Nations Pride, Stone Age and Grand Sonata. It includes fifth-place Royal Patronage and sixth-place Sy Dog. And it includes last-of-12 finisher Stolen Base.

No 26/1 Classic Causeway at Saratoga Derby

That we’re mentioning Classic Causeway’s name first, ahead of European turf standouts Nations Pride and Stone Age, ties back to his 26-1 Belmont Derby shocker. That gate-to-wire score came in his first turf trip. It also came two weeks after Classic Causeway finished third in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby.

“I’m real proud of how he handled himself in the Belmont Derby and I think he’ll rate a little better in his next start,” trainer Kenny McPeek told the New York Racing Association. “He seems to be turning off a little bit and he’s a very strong-willed horse. I’m just really glad to get a Grade 1 out of him.”

Classic Causeway comes in off a 1:01.88 five-furlong breeze on Saratoga’s Oklahoma training track that was third of 31 at that distance July 31. McPeek said he’s working well, strong-willed and all, but he is aware of what awaits his not-so-secret turf stakes winner. That starts with his 8/1 morning line odds.

Belmont Derby came with wild finish

Another reason for that is the Belmont Derby’s cavalry-charge finish. The top six finishers were separated by only 1 1/2 lengths. Seventh-place Limited Liability finished less than four lengths back.

It’s also because Todd Pletcher sends out three hunters for Classic Causeway. There’s Grand Sonata, who won two winter stakes races at Gulfstream Park. But there’s also two strong contenders in Emmanuel and Annapolis.

Emmanuel, a late Belmont Derby scratch, set the precedent table for Classic Causeway. He too, transitioned from a solid dirt horse to a graded stakes turf winner when he won the Grade 2 Pennine Ridge June 4 at Belmont Park.

Emmanuel won’t take Classic Causeway’s bait

“He handled the mile and an eighth well in the Pennine Ridge,” Pletcher said, explaining how Emmanuel’s front-running style diverges from Classic Causeway’s need-the-lead style. “He had the fractions go his way which, with Classic Causeway in here, he’s a pace factor that wasn’t in the Pennine Ridge. But he’s very tractable and doesn’t need the lead. I don’t foresee it being a problem.”

Annapolis too, bypassed the Belmont Derby. Instead, Pletcher sent him out to a 2 3/4-length victory in the July 4 Manila Stakes at Belmont Park. That came with a career-best 91 Beyer Speed Figure and a good response to his shocking runner-up finish to 83/1 Wow Whata Summer in the Grade 2 Penn Mile at Penn National. That’s his only loss in four career races.

“”We were really on the fence between the Manila and the Belmont Derby. But with only one start under his belt, we felt it made sense to come back and get another race into him before stretching him out,” Pletcher said.

Nations Pride, Stone Age back for Saratoga Derby revenge

That brings us to the European contenders: Nations Pride and Stone Age. Both return for more than the smaller pieces they grabbed in the Belmont Derby.

Nations Pride actually gave Classic Causeway a scare, closing from ninth on the backstretch to finish three-quarters of a length behind.

He stayed in New York afterward, training with Charlie Appleby’s traveling assistant Chris Connett. The Irish-bred colt put in four Oklahoma workouts, the most recent being a six-furlong 1:15.21 July 31.

“I just think he needs a trouble-free run this time,” Connett said. “He looked like he was going to make a nice run into the home turn at Belmont and he got checked, but he still rallied and made a big effort. If he can have a clear run through, he should take some beating.”

Stone Age found bronze last time

Stone Age went six-wide down the stretch to grab the bottom portion of the Belmont Derby trifecta by less than a length. He went back to Europe afterward and returned Sunday.

As for Sy Dog, he returns to the Saratoga Derby after that sixth-place finish, one that came by 1 1/2 lengths.

“I can’t give him any excuses,” trainer Graham Motion said, brushing aside the fact Sy Dog went four-wide into the stretch and couldn’t gain any ground. “I thought he ran a really good race. Manny (Franco) loved him and I thought he gave him a great ride. … He got stuck down on the inside, but I can’t give that as an excuse. He wasn’t beaten very much. If he can run back to that race, he should be competitive.”

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A nice score to be sure, especially as the 19/1 longest shot in the field.

Now, however, Highland Chief must validate this surprising effort against nine other horses in the 1 ¼-mile Grade 1 Manhattan. The turf test for older horses along Belmont Park’s inner turf course is one of eight Grade 1 events on the weekend’s Belmont Stakes card.

For Highland Chief, it comes a month after he turned away a Man o’ War field that included not only Yibir, but multiple Grade 1 turf winner Gufo. He’ll see Gufo, who he beat by a length after taking control at the top of the stretch, again in the Manhattan.

Highland Chief didn’t get much of a 4-year-old season

It comes two months after Highland Chief finished a non-threatening ninth in a 1 1/16-mile Aqueduct allowance. That came in his stateside debut for new trainer Graham Motion, who took over conditioning duties of the Irish-bred horse this year. Motion inherited a horse who ran only once as a 4-year-old, and who finished fifth in the Group 1 Coronation Cup at Epsom.

“I probably asked too much of him in that 1 1/16 race, but I really wanted to get him doing and that race benefited him to get him to the Grade 1,�?Motion told the New York Racing Association. “If you go back through his form lines, it’s not that crazy he was able to pull that off based on his Ascot form. He was a solid enough horse before he came to me and then he had throat surgery before he came to me, which probably helped.�?/p>

Motion credits jockey Trevor McCarthy for the Man o’ War score — one that brought the jockey his first Grade 1 victory. McCarthy and Motion understood part of the problem from that Aqueduct allowance came because Highland Chief broke slowly out of the gate. Breaking clean was key in the Man o’ War.

“We felt he could be forwardly placed, but that was really Trevor’s call,�?Motion said. “I was glad we got the jump on those guys. Both Gufo and the Breeders’ Cup winner (Yibir) have a tremendous turn of foot and I thought it was important he got the jump on them.�?/p>

Gufo seeks redemption on two fronts

There are plenty of horses with tremendous turns of foot in the Manhattan field, including Gufo, who won the 10-furlong Belmont Derby last summer. That, after finishing third in this event to Domestic Spending last year. He opened his 2022 ledger winning the Grade 2 Pan American at Gulfstream Park.

There’s Santin, who comes in off his neck victory in the Grade 1 Turf Classic on the Kentucky Derby undercard. There’s the familiar Channel Maker, who finished eighth in this race in 2018, and fourth in 2019 and 2020. The Eclipse Award winner as Champion Turf Male in 2020 opened his 8-year-old season winning the 1 ½-mile Grade 2 Elkhorn at Keeneland.

“I’ve had some nice older horses before, but he’s been a real warrior,â€�?trainer Bill Mott said. He’s made $3.5 million. He’s a good old gelding and he’s run in a lot of stakes. It’s amazing.”

Grade 1 Manhattan/Belmont Park

Morning Line (Jockey/Trainer)

1. L’Imperator, 15/1 (Eric Cancel/Chad Brown)
2. Gufo, 3/1 (Joel Rosario/Christophe Clement)
3. Tokyo Gold, 30/1 (Cristian Demuro/Satoshi Kobayashi)
4. Adhamo, 4/1 (Flavien Prat/Chad Brown)
5. In Love, 15/1 (Alex Achard/Paulo Lobo)
6. Rockemperor, 10/1 (Irad Ortiz Jr./Chad Brown)
7. Tribhuvan, 8/1 (Manny Franco/Chad Brown)
8. Highland Chief, 6/1 (Trevor McCarthy/Graham Motion)
9. Santin, 7/2 (Tyler Gaffalione/Brendan Walsh)
10. Channel Maker, 8/1 (Luis Saez/Bill Mott)

And, of course, Chad Brown has his customary presence. The three-time defending champion, who won this race a record seven times, sends out four: L’Imperator, Tribhuvan, Rockemperor, and Adhavo.

Tribhuvan finished second to Domestic Spending in last year’s Manhattan. He’s missed the board in his two 2022 starts, including a fifth in that Turf Classic. Rockemperor finished second in this race two years ago and fifth last year. He arrives off a dismal fifth to L’Imperator in the May 7 Grade 2 Fort Marcy at Belmont Park.

“I think L’Imperator probably only made the lead last time because it was so slow, but he ran very well that day,�?Brown said. “I don’t think he has more pace than Tribhuvan.�?/p>

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A customary presence at the mid-June meet, Ward is one of four American trainers nominating horses to one of the eight Group 1 races. Graham Motion, another Royal Ascot regular, plans on sending Spendarella to the Coronation Stakes and Sy Dog to the St. James’s Palace Stakes.

Brad Cox nominated Caravel to either the King’s Stand Stakes or Commonwealth Cup. And Christophe Clement lined up Pizza Bianca for the Coronation Stakes, along with Slipstream, Derrynane, and Big Invasion for the Commonwealth Cup.

Celebrity chef and horse racing aficionado Bobby Flay owns Pizza Bianca, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner. She returned from that race to a runner-up finish at Aqueduct’s Memories of Silver last Sunday.

Caravel going to Royal Ascot under new ownership

Flay owned graded stakes winner Caravel for a few months last year before selling her at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton November Sale.

Most of the attention will center on Ward, as it usually does whenever the subject of Americans at Royal Ascot comes up. With Golden Pal and Campanelle, he has two of the top runners in their divisions. Golden Pal already defeated numerous European rivals at last year’s Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint and he goes into Royal Ascot coming off a five-length romp in last weekend’s Grade 2 Shakertown Stakes at Keeneland.

“It was a powerful performance from him in the Shakertown — but it was a comeback and I really think his next run is going to be something special,” Ward said in a statement. “He is a once in a lifetime horse — certainly the best I have ever had — and I think he will stamp that with his performance at Ascot if he runs like I am expecting him to. Physically, he is an awesome specimen now, and mentally, he is really coming into his own. I am just so excited to get him back over there.”

Ward sees unfinished business for Golden Pal

As a juvenile two years ago, Golden Pal finished second in the Norfolk Stakes. That was only his second career start and one of three times he’s missed the winner’s circle (6-2-0) in nine races. His only loss since then came in last year’s Nunthorpe Stakes at York, when he finished an uncharacteristic seventh.

Ward had a ready explanation for the son of Uncle Mo’s only off-the-board finish.

“I am looking at a couple of things from his run at York. Firstly, he ran a big race at Churchill Downs on his comeback last year and that was five weeks beforehand,” he said. “I know five weeks is a nice gap for you guys (European trainers), but for me, a longer spacing with sprinters works better. If I come back too quick, it usually stings me as a trainer.”

Can Campanelle pull the Royal Ascot trifecta?

Then, there’s Campanelle. The 4-year-old is gunning for her third consecutive Royal Ascot score in as many years. She won the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes as a juvenile in 2020 and captured the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup through disqualification last year.

Campanelle goes to Royal Ascot off a 2 1/2-length victory in the Listed Giant’s Causeway Stakes April 16 at Keeneland. That was her second win in four races, dating to that Commonwealth Cup score.

“She had a strong performance on her comeback win at Keeneland the other day,” Ward said. “If you watch that race against some of the fastest fillies in the country, what she did was pretty impressive. Between her and Golden Pal, I think we are going in with some big chances. They are running in races that I have won before and I really feel this pair is coming into their respective races as good, if not better, than my previous winners.”

The kiddie corps will be represented

Who joins them on Ward’s traveling squad remains to be seen. Of his 12 Royal Ascot winners, eight have been 2-year-olds. That’s Ward’s niche and he’ll have candidates filling it this year.

“We have our first grass maidens 2-year-olds in the US at Keeneland this week,” he said. “Then, there are maidens at Churchill Downs and Belmont Park as well. I will have runners across those races and how they get on will determine who travels.”

Royal Ascot’s five-day meet runs from June 14-18.

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The suspension, $7,500 fine, and forfeiture of Kentucky Derby winnings by Amr Zedan, the owner of the late Medina Spirit, came after the colt tested positive for betamethasone after crossing the finishing line first in the 2021 Kentucky Derby.

Judge Thomas Wingate of the Franklin Circuit Court denied the claim by Baffert attorney Craig Robertson that the trainer was entitled to a stay because the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission traditionally bestows them in medication cases.

Wingate denied that request, saying those stays are evaluated “on a case-by-case basis.”

Stays aren’t automatically granted

“Accordingly, the Court cannot adopt a blanket rule that all requests for stays must be (automatically) granted. In fact, said rule would violate the intent of (the above law),” Wingate wrote in his ruling. “The statute’s existence and language openly suggest that a request for a stay should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Otherwise, logically, the General Assembly would have written the statute to provide for an automatic stay and would not have prescribed numerous avenues to appeal the denial of a stay.”

Which Baffert plans to do.

Clark Brewster, another member of Baffert’s legal team, said he will appeal Wingate’s decision to the Kentucky Court of Appeals. Because of that appeal process, Wingate temporarily shelved the 90-day suspension, fine, and forfeiture of winnings for two weeks to allow for an appeal.

Should the Court of Appeals deny Baffert, his suspension would begin April 4, two days after the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby. Baffert is expected to have horses in that race, one of the four Grade 1 Derby preps.

Baffert suspension means no Triple Crown presence

A 90-day suspension would take Baffert out of the entire Triple Crown season. Due to his suspension from Churchill Downs, his horses are ineligible to run the Kentucky Derby anyway. The suspension would end on July 4 in time for Baffert to run at Saratoga and Del Mar.

In last Thursday’s hearing, Robertson brought up another byproduct of that suspension. Because of reciprocity rules honored by racetracks across the country, Baffert would have to close his nearly 100-horse Santa Anita home barn. He would also have to clear out his strings at other tracks during the duration of the suspension.

Robertson argued to Wingate that doing this would effectively destroy Baffert’s career, putting him out of business. But the judge swatted that aside, using Baffert’s stellar record against him in his ruling.

Court dismisses financial ramifications

“The Court is confident that Baffert’s career will not be destroyed by this ninety (90) day suspension. Baffert’s track record speaks for itself,” Wingate wrote. “Nevertheless, Baffert’s claimed injuries again generally relate to economic harm, which is not irreparable under Kentucky law. Baffert has failed to plead harm that would be irreparable.”

Wingate is no stranger to these cases. He was the judge who ordered the KHRC to turn over a urine sample to Baffert and Zedan for private testing at a New York lab last year. But one of Wingate’s previous cases set the table for Monday’s ruling.

That would be a 2015 case against trainer Graham Motion. His horse, Kitten’s Point, tested positive for methocarbamol, a banned drug. Motion appealed his suspension and fine, and Wingate agreed, ruling the KHRC’s regulation of methocarbamol was “arbitrary and capricious and there was no rationale to uphold the constitutionality of the regulation (banning it).”

An off-track reversal cost Baffert this decision

The state Court of Appeals overturned Wingate’s decision. It cited in its ruling that even though the effects of methocarbamol as a PED weren’t known, the KHRC does have legal authority to enforce its rules.

Wingate cited that in Monday’s ruling, saying “… the actual effect of a banned drug is irrelevant. Therefore, Plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate a substantial likelihood of success.”

Meanwhile, the KHRC will hear Baffert and Zedan’s appeal to that board on April 18. This refers to the pair’s appeal of Medina Spirit’s disqualification, Baffert’s Churchill Downs suspension, and the fine. They filed that appeal, citing an ointment for a skin rash as the source of Medina Spirit’s positive test and not an injection.

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The undisclosed injury won’t take the 4-year-old daughter of Speightstown out of her broodmare career, according to Aron Wellman, president of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. That consortium owns Sharing.

“We had designs on a blockbuster campaign this coming season,�?Wellman said in a release. “We’re devastated we won’t be able to enjoy her racing any more, but she is destined to produce special foals for many years to come. In less than 10 years, Eclipse has won 16 Grade 1s, but Sharing is unequivocally our best to date. She is as classy as they come.�?/p>

Sharing ran nine races in her two seasons. She won five of those, finished second once and third twice, hitting the board eight times in nine outings. Interestingly, the only time she missed the board brought her career-best 111 Equibase Speed Figure. That came in the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes last fall at Del Mar, where Sharing finished fourth by three-quarters of a length to three older mares.

Sharing Won Four of Her First Five Races

As a 2-year-old, Sharing broke her maiden on her second try. That jump-started a four-race, 10-month winning streak beginning with the Black-Type Selima Stakes at Laurel Park. Not a bad place for a Maryland-bred to win her first stakes race.

Sharing’s second stakes race provided her signature victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Her 1-¼-length victory made her an Eclipse Award finalist, Maryland-Bred Horse of the Year, and gave Sharing her lone Grade 1 victory. It also provided her first triple-digit Equibase score �?a 104. Sharing would record nothing but triple-digit Equibases for the duration of her career.

Win No. 4 came last May in the Black-Type Tepin Stakes at Churchill Downs. Then, English-born trainer Graham Motion audaciously entered Sharing in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot. She finished a game second, then picked up where she left off in the US, winning the Grade 2 Edgewood at Churchill Downs in September.

Foot Issues Didn’t Stop Sharing From Making Money

Sharing wrapped up her career with the fourth in the Matriarch and a third in the Grade 1 American Oaks on Santa Anita’s opening day on Dec. 26.

“Sharing battled through foot issues all throughout her 3-year-old season, but still managed to win major races, travel the country, and represent our partnership at Royal Ascot with a brilliant second in a Group 1,�?Wellman said.

Wishing a happy retirement to our girl SHARING! �?

We'll miss our 2019 #BreedersCup Juvenile Fillies Turf Champ. @GrahamMotion @EclipseTBP @SagamoreRacing @HerringswellStb pic.twitter.com/hZiOYNVJlv

— Breeders' Cup (@BreedersCup) January 26, 2021

A $350,000 yearling purchase at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Select Sale at Saratoga, Sharing earned $1,092,751 in her career.

“Sharing was a special filly in every sense of the word. She was bred to be special, being a Breeders’ Cup winner and out of a Breeders’ Cup winner,�?Wellman said. “Even her dam’s sire was a Breeders’ Cup winner. She was special when we bought her as a yearling, and she trained like she was special from the moment she had a saddle put on her at Stonestreet Farm.�?/p>

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Brown owns three Eclipse Awards as the country’s top trainer. And he owns those primarily because the grass is often greener with his horses traipsing across it. In Sunday’s $300,000 Matriarch, Brown sends three Eastern shippers a mile across Del Mar’s Jimmy Durante Turf Course in pursuit of his third Matriarch title in four years. He won the event in 2017 with Off Limits, and in 2018 with Uni.

The Matriarch’s field of fillies and mares is among the weekend’s deepest in any race. Eight of the nine fillies own stakes victories. Six of those come off a trip to a stakes winner’s circle. Two have a Grade 1 title on their resume, and three others own Grade 1 placings.

In other words, this is where you’d expect to find Brown. When he ships horses west, he does so with purpose. He’s won nine stakes races at Del Mar �?seven of those Grade 1s. For ready reference, look no further than Thursday’s Grade 3 Red Carpet Stakes, which Brown’s Orglandes rolled up and won.

Brown Leaving Everything on the Turf, Nothing to Chance

Brown’s Matriarch armada includes stakes winners Blowout, Viadera, and Tamahere. It also includes three of the country’s best jockeys in Flavien Prat (Blowout), Joel Rosario (Viadera), and Irad Ortiz Jr. (Tamahere). Rosario and Ortiz come in from New York to ride this weekend.

Did we say Brown was serious here?

Viadera, your 7/2 favorite, and Blowout (4/1) roll into Del Mar off a 1-2 finish in the Grade 3 Noble Damsel Stakes at Belmont Park on Sept. 26. Viadera’s neck win in the mile race came in a sizzling 1:32.06, bringing Viadera her second victory in three 2020 races. Her 113 Equibase Speed Figure from that race is faster than everyone else in the field, save Juliet Foxtrot (4/1).

Matriarch Stakes

Morning Line (Jockey)

1. Mucho Unusual, 10/1 (Abel Cedillo)
2. Maxim Rate, 8/1 (Umberto Rispoli)
3. Sharing, 5/1 (Manny Franco)
4. Blowout, 4/1 (Flavien Prat)
5. Juliet Foxtrot, 4/1 (Mike Smith)
6. Viadera, 7/2 (Joel Rosario)
7. She’s Our Charm, 30/1 (Juan Hernandez)
8. Bodhicitta, 12/1 (Ricky Gonzalez)
9. Tamahere, 4/1 (Irad Ortiz Jr.)

As for Juliet Foxtrot, the 5-year-old mare finished third in this race last year with a 114 Equibase — faster than anyone else in the field. She’s coming off a victory in the Grade 3 Gallorette Stakes at Pimlico, but is one of the most inconsistent entries in the field. Her 2020 resume includes that victory, a third in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley, and a fourth and a sixth in graded stakes.

Could the Matriarch be Blowout’s First Graded Stakes Win?

Blowout, meanwhile, enters only her third race of the year. She has two seconds: the aforementioned Noble Damsel and an allowance optional claiming at Saratoga in August. Both times, Blowout clocked strong Equibases of 112 and 111, respectively. Blowout hasn’t missed the board in 10 career starts, and has three wins, six seconds, and a third. But winning a graded stakes has remained out of reach.

The same can’t be said for Tamahere (4/1). The French-bred filly comes off a two-length victory in her first American race, the Grade 2 Sands Point Stakes at Belmont Park. En route, she showed patience, considering she was in sixth at the ¾-mile mark. The 90 Equibase brought Tamahere her second consecutive victory, but remains more than a few ticks behind her stablemates.

Chances are, if one of Brown’s trio doesn’t find the winner’s circle, Graham Motion’s Sharing (5/1) will. One of the country’s top 3-year-old turf fillies, Sharing won five of her last six races. Her latest victory was the Grade 2 Edgewood at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Oaks undercard.

Sharing Brings Her Powerful Resume West

The 2019 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner, Sharing’s only loss this year was a gutsy runner-up in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot. The daughter of Speightstown returns after a bruised heel kept her out of the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes at Keeneland. And she returns with one of the strongest resumes in the field, boasting five wins, a second, and a third in seven starts.

With $1.038 million in earnings, Sharing is the only millionaire in the field. Her purse earnings comprise almost a third of the field’s $3.3 million in earnings.

The Pick: Sharing. At 5/1, this screams value from a horse who knows what it takes to win against top competition. The only question is, can she up her speed to take on Juliet Foxtrot and Viadera at their best?

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The Diana sends older fillies and mares 1 1/8 miles around Saratoga’s Mellon Turf Course. That’s the condensed, Reader’s Digest version of the race. It only scratches the surface of the six-horse field’s depth. Just as it only scratches the surface of Brown’s dominance in this event.

The turf maestro seeks his sixth victory in the Diana and his fifth consecutive trip to the winner’s circle. And Brown does this sending 5/2 Sistercharlie in search of her third consecutive Diana victory. Should the 6-year-old mare complete the three-peat, she’ll create her own Diana Stakes winner’s club. A club with a membership of one: her.

Sistercharlie is one of five horses going back-to-back in a race dating to 1939. Forever Together in 2008-09 was the last before her. Miss Grillo in 1946-47 was the first.

“That would be an amazing accomplishment,�?Brown told the New York Racing Association.

Even With This Resume, Sistercharlie Isn’t the Favorite

Make no mistake, Sistercharlie is good. She’s the 2018 Eclipse Award Champion Turf Female, winner of seven North American Grade 1 races — including the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf â€�?and 10 races in 16 starts.

But, this field is so deep, Sistercharlie isn’t your Diana favorite.

That would be Brown’s other horse: Rushing Fall (3/2). We last saw the five-time Grade 1 winner win that fifth Grade 1 in early July at Keeneland. There, Rushing Fall outkicked a game Jolie Olimpica in deep stretch to win the Jenny Wiley by less than a length. She too has a Breeders’ Cup title — the 2017 Juvenile Fillies Turf â€�?along with Grade 1 wins at ages 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Rushing Fall also has a chip on her shoulder, losing to Sistercharlie in last year’s Diana despite rolling up a career-tying-best 103 Beyer Speed Figure. Rushing Fall clocked 103 Beyers in four of her last five races, including both her victories this year: the Grade 3 Beaugay at Belmont Park in June and the Jenny Wiley.

No Diana Stakes Brown-Fecta This Year

Alas, Brown must content himself sending out only two horses with a combined 12 Grade 1 victories �?two of those Breeders’ Cups. That means he can’t repeat his Diana Brown-fecta from last year, when Sistercharlie, Rushing Fall, and Homerique went 1-2-3.

As good as Brown is in this event and on turf, he isn’t invincible. Saturday at Saratoga, Brown sent out four standouts in the Grade 1 Fourstardave, including 2019 Eclipse Award Champion Older Female Uni, the 2/1 favorite. All four missed the board, as Todd Pletcher’s 5/1 Halladay went gate-to-wire.

Diana Stakes

Morning Line (Jockey)

1. Call Me Love, 8/1 (Joel Rosario)
2. Secret Message, 20/1 (Irad Ortiz Jr.)
3. Rushing Fall, 3/2 (Javier Castellano)
4. Starship Jubilee, 9/2 (Jose Ortiz)
5. Sistercharlie, 5/2 (John Velazquez)
6. Mean Mary, 3/1 (Luis Saez)

So, if you see chinks in Brown’s turf-colored armor, there are options, starting with Mean Mary (3/1). The Graham Motion trainee comes into the gate riding a four-race winning streak. Included in that are three graded stakes victories, the La Prevoyante and Orchid at Gulfstream Park, and the New York at Belmont.

After winning the 1 ½-mile Le Prevoyante and the 1 ¼-mile New York, Motion is curious to see how the 4-year-old handles the Diana’s distance cutback. He’s targeting Mean Mary for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, run at 1 3/16 miles.

Mean Mary Means Business

“She’s been pointing to this race for a long time,�?Motion said. “With the Breeders’ Cup, I need to find out if she can handle these shorter distances. She certainly did before we started running her at these longer races, but not at this level.�?/p>

The other intriguing non-Brown entry is a familiar face to two Diana competitors, Starship Jubilee (9/2). The oldest horse in the field at 7, Starship Jubilee upset both Sistercharlie and Call Me Love (8/1) in last month’s Ballston Spa at Saratoga. Call Me Love was second, while Sistercharlie finished third as the 2/5 favorite.

Starship Jubilee also comes into the Diana with a four-race winning streak, all of those stakes victories. The former claimer owns 18 victories from 36 starts.

The pick: Rushing Fall. Brown finds the winner’s circle again with the horse who currently owns better form.

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No, Daayeh and Albigna, the two Sharing vanquished in last fall’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, won’t be in the Royal Ascot gate seeking revenge. But no shortage of talent awaits Sharing on Royal Ascot’s closing day.

The one-turn mile Coronation Stakes for 3-year-old fillies is one of three Group 1 races and five group stakes on a loaded final-day card. It moved to Saturday to allow horses such as Quadrilateral recovery time from the June 7 1000 Guineas. The favorite in that race, Quadrilateral finished third �?a status that didn’t affect her 11/4 favorite status for the Coronation Stakes.

Listed at 13/2, Sharing stares up the odds ladder at not only Quadrilateral, but two Irish horses: Alpine Star (10/3) and Run Wild (9/2). None of this daunts Motion, who had no problem jumping through whatever COVID-19 hoops were in his way to get Sharing to Royal Ascot.

“To me, it’s always about the challenge,�?he told Laurel Park. “I think sometimes in racing, we spend too much time trying to duck other horses. Racing, ultimately, is about the challenge and seeing how’s got the fastest horse. I think that’s why we’re doing it and it’s exciting.�?/p>

Pinatubo Seeks Redemption in St. James’s Palace Stakes

The other beaten Guineas favorite, Pinatubo, headlines the Group 1 St. James’s Palace Stakes. He finds himself a tepid 7/4 favorite. Star trainer Aidan O’Brien’s Wichita �?who finished second to Kameko in the 2000 Guineas �?isn’t far back at 5/2.

Royal Ascot

Saturday, June 20

• 4:40 a.m. PT â€�?The Silver Wokingham Handicap
• 5:15 a.m. PT â€�?The Queen Mary Stakes (G2)
• 5:50 a.m. PT â€�?The Coronation Stakes (G1)
• 6:25 a.m. PT â€�?The Coventry Stakes (G2)
• 7 a.m. PT      â€�?The St James’s Palace Stakes (G1)
• 7:35 a.m. PT â€�?The Diamond Jubilee Stakes (G1) â€�?Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series (Turf Sprint)
• 8:10 a.m. PT â€�?The Wokingham Stakes (Heritage Handicap)
• 8:40 a.m. PT â€�?The Queen Alexandra Stakes (Conditions)

Previously unbeaten Pinatubo was odds-on to win the 2000 Guineas in his 3-year-old debut, but gets pushed here from not only Wichita but Palace Pier (7/2). He gets the powerful trainer/jockey combo of John Gosden and Frankie Dettori.

Despite making his group stakes debut in the deep end of the pool, Sceptical (7/2) is your favorite in the other Group 1 race, the six-furlong Diamond Jubilee. Dettori rides a horse who won on turf for the first time June 8.

Sharing Not So Altruistic On The Track

As for Sharing, the Maryland-bred 3-year-old is well-versed with the deep end of the pool. She brings a four-race winning streak across the Atlantic, losing her debut race at Saratoga last July before running the current table. That includes the Selima Stakes last September in only her third start, a victory that propelled her to an upset win in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

In turn, that propelled Sharing to a half-length victory in last month’s Tepin Stakes at Churchill Downs, her 3-year-old debut. Her Equibase Speed Figure increased for the third consecutive race, to 105, and she hit the board in all five races: four wins and a third.

That victory brought no small measure of pride out of Motion. The British expat trained Sharing’s dam, Shared Account, who won the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at 46/1. A Royal Ascot victory has always been on Motion’s bucket list, since he grew up in Newmarket. Motion came to the US in 1993 and won his first race in his new country in March at Laurel Park.

“I hope I take my own personal feelings out of it. Obviously, I’d like to do it, but I want to be doing it for the right reasons,�?he told Laurel Park. “We’re not going for the party, because we can’t go. We’re going because we want to give the filly a shot against the best horses.�?/p>

Motion Trying to Break His Royal Ascot Maiden

When you look at the record, it’s surprising Motion remains shut out at Royal Ascot. Yet, he understands how difficult it is to win at this meet. He brought 2011 Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom and standout filly Miss Temple City over. Neither brought home a trophy.

“I still have so much respect for how difficult it is to do this and I think even when Tepin won the Queen Anne, I don’t think some people on the American side realized quite how difficult it is, having tried to do it myself several times,�?he told the Racing Post.

“It’s amazing what (10-time Royal Ascot winner) Wesley (Ward) has been able to accomplish. It’s not easy. I realize it’s also difficult coming to us, handling the tight turns and the very fast tracks. But perhaps even more so to go over there on the undulating turf courses, when you don’t know what kind of ground you’re going to get.�?/p>

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