The depth of trainer Chad Brown’s team in Sunday’s Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes at Del Mar is staggering. There is Whitebeam, winner of the Grade 1 Diana Stakes at Saratoga in July, along with Fluffy Socks, a three-time graded stakes winner who won at Del Mar in 2020. They are joined by the lightly raced 3-year-old stakes winner Surge Capacity and Beaute Cachee, a former European runner and a stakes winner this year. “We sent four and they all deserve to be in the race,” Brown said. Brown, based in New York, has won five of the last six runnings of the Matriarch, and another win in the $300,000 race at a mile on turf for fillies and mares would be no surprise. The Matriarch Stakes is the featured race on the final day of the autumn meeting at Del Mar. Los Alamitos begins a two-week December meeting on Friday followed by the start of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting on Dec. 26. Brown’s quartet will face as many as eight other fillies and mares, notably Closing Remarks and Queen Goddess, the first two finishers of the Grade 2 Goldikova Stakes at a mile on turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 5. :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. There are five other stakes winners in the field – Elm Drive, Elounda Queen, Hamwood Flier, Ruby Nell, and Wakanaka. Trainer Phil D’Amato starts Elm Drive, Elounda Queen, and Hamwood Flier. Gracelund Gray, the only mare without a stakes win, is not a definite starter, trainer Peter Eurton said on Friday. Gracelund Gray often sets the pace. If she does not start, runners such as Elm Drive, Hamwood Flier, and Ruby Nell are likely to ensure a quick pace that will help the principal runners, who run from off the pace. Whitebeam closed from third of five to win the Diana Stakes at 1 1/8 miles. In the Grade 1 First Lady Stakes for fillies and mare at a mile on turf at Keeneland on Oct. 7, Whitebeam was only fourth of eight after an inside trip she may not have preferred, Brown said. Flavien Prat rode Whitebeam in the Diana and First Lady and has the mount in the Matriarch. “Maybe she was a little close to the pace,” Brown said. “Maybe she didn’t care for being inside. That’s what Flavien said. We’ll see if he can work out a different kind of trip.” If the pace is rapid, Brown expects Fluffy Socks to be a late factor. A winner of 5 of 21 starts, Fluffy Socks has yet to win a Grade 1, but did record an attractive win in the Grade 2 Distaff Turf Mile at Churchill Downs in May. More recently, Fluffy Socks closed from seventh to finish third in the Athenia Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf at the Belmont at Aqueduct meeting on Oct. 27. “Fluffy Socks is very experienced and seasoned and the pace may set up for her,” Brown said. Beaute Cachee was second in the Athenia, and should get a stalking trip in the Matriarch. “She’s really developed well, especially in the last four months,” Brown said. Surge Capacity, Elounda Queen, and Ruby Nell are the 3-year-olds in the Matriarch field. A 3-year-old has not won the Matriarch since Better Lucky did so in 2012, when the race was run at Hollywood Park. Surge Capacity has won 3 of 4 starts since her career began in June, including the Grade 3 Valley View Stakes at a mile on turf at Keeneland on Oct. 2. “She’s been very consistent,” Brown said. Queen Goddess, a four-time stakes winner, was a game second by a half-length to Closing Remarks in the Goldikova in her first start since May. Queen Goddess tends to race just behind the leaders, and that forward position could be vital with many prominent runners expected to be closing in the final furlong. :: Get Daily Racing Form Past Performances – the exclusive home of Beyer Speed Figures “She’s as good as anyone else in there,” said trainer Michael McCarthy said. “She had a very good month since her first start back.” The 5-year-old Closing Remarks has won four stakes this year, including two on turf at Del Mar this summer. She will need a career-best performance to win the Matriarch, but ran that caliber of race in the Goldikova. “That was such a huge performance,” trainer Carla Gaines. “I hope she doesn’t bounce. She doesn’t exhibit that in her training. She’s on fire. “Her works have been really super. It’s weird that she’s improving now.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.