Diamond Rain seeks vengence in E.P. Taylor
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ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Godolphin’s Diamond Rain endured a tough loss to eventual Eclipse Award-winning female turf runner She Feels Pretty in last year’s Grade 1 E.P. Taylor. She should be favored against another excellent field in this year’s edition of the $750,000 contest going 1 1/4 miles on the roomy main turf at Woodbine.
Diamond Rain got a break after finishing a troubled third in the Nov. 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar. The 5-year-old was a bit slow to come around this year, winning her third race off the sidelines July 24 in the 1 5/16-mile Lyric Fillies Stakes at York, with William Buick aboard for trainer Charlie Appleby.
See The Fire, Gimme a Nother, Achieve, and Jancis are the perceived secondary contenders in this Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In event.
See The Fire was Group 1-placed last year for trainer Andrew Balding, who took the 2017 Taylor with Blond Me. She won her first two races this year, most notably the Group 2 Middleton Fillies at York, where she defeated the comebacking Diamond Rain after attending a slow pace. After getting dusted two back against some formidable opposition in the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s at Ascot, she was a distant third July 30 in the Group 1 Nassau at Goodwood.
The South African champion Gimme a Nother is no stranger to Woodbine. The Maryland-based mare was beaten on the wire in last year’s Grade 2 Canadian after inheriting the lead and has since gone unbeaten while using a stalking style.
Gimme a Nother caught Achieve in the final strides most recently, taking the Grade 2 Beverly D. at Colonial under John Velazquez, a four-time winner of the Taylor, who will ride her again from post 1 for trainer Graham Motion.
“I’m very pleased with how she’s doing and that draw should be okay,” Motion said. “I do feel like it’s coming up a very competitive race, particularly with the Euros in there.”
The speedy Achieve set a moderate pace in the 1 3/16-mile Beverly D. before weakening late in her stakes debut. Previously, she cleared the first two allowance conditions for perennial leading Woodbine trainer Mark Casse, who won the 2023 Taylor with Fev Rover.
The Willie McCreery-trained Jancis won the Group 2 Dahlia at Newmarket in her May 3 season opener, after which she wound up fifth and second in Group 3 company. She tested Group 1 opponents most recently in the Falmouth at Newmarket, finishing fifth behind Blue Bolt, who was in the midst of a four-race winning streak.
Completing the field are Sultana, Somethinabouther, and Venetian Lace.
Sultana is the lone local runner in the lineup. The Kevin Attard-trained 5-year-old was third as the favorite in her penultimate race here in the Grade 2 Nassau, a one-mile route that was too short for her. She subsequently closed for fourth against males in the Niagara Stakes on the inner turf.
“The Nassau didn’t go as planned, so I wheeled her back against the boys, just because of the mile and three-eighths,” Attard said. “I think she’ll appreciate getting back to the outer course. With her running style, she should like that long stretch. It’s a tough race and she’s going to have to step it up, but she had a solid work [last Saturday].”
Somethinabouther was victorious in the Grade 3 Mazarine here at 2 for trainer Brendan Walsh. The versatile 4-year-old made up ground late to finish a close third last out in the Beverly D., arguably the best performance of her career.
Venetian Lace has run hot and cold this year in England. She showed speed before flattening out to third most recently in the Group 3 Gordon at Goodwood for trainer Charlie Johnston.
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