SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – There is very little missing from the résumé of Rushing Fall, a 5-year-old mare who has won Grade 1 stakes in four consecutive years while amassing a career record of 10 wins and two seconds from 13 starts. Perhaps a Grade 1 victory at Saratoga and an Eclipse Award as champion female turf horse are all that’s left for her to accomplish. Sunday, Rushing Fall goes for the former, which could go a long way to achieving the latter when she heads a stellar field of six entered in the Grade 1, $500,000 Diana Stakes at 1 1/8 miles. The Diana goes as race 8 on a nine-race card that begins at 1:10 p.m. and features a mandatory payout on the Empire 6, a wager that began Friday with a $442,574 carryover. The Empire 6, a 20-cent minimum bet, is on races 4 through 9. Rushing Fall, a daughter of More Than Ready owned by Bob Edwards, heads a potent one-two punch for trainer Chad Brown, who also sends out Sistercharlie, the female turf champion of 2018 who is seeking a historic third consecutive victory in this race. A victory by either would give Brown a fifth consecutive Diana victory as he also won this race in 2017 with Lady Eli and in 2016 with Dacita. Rushing Fall finished second to Sistercharlie in this race last year. She completed her 4-year-old campaign with a disappointing fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 First Lady at Keeneland. This year, however, Rushing Fall has won the Grade 3 Beaugay and the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland. Those races were run at 1 1/16 miles, which appears to be her optimal distance. While Rushing Fall has won twice at 1 1/8 miles, race shape and field quality somewhat were factors in those victories. Brown likens Rushing Fall a bit to Stephanie’s Kitten and Dayatthespa, who successfully stretched out to longer distances in winning the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at 1 3/16 miles and 1 1/4 miles, respectively. :: Play Saratoga with DRF! Visit our Saratoga shop for DRF PPs, Picks, Betting Strategies, and Clocker Reports “Those horses were pretty much milers when they were younger,” Brown said. “This horse, I think at her age, I’m optimistic that she can fall into that pattern of getting a little more length out of her. I see it in her training. I can’t guarantee it.” At age 5 and still relatively lightly campaigned, Rushing Fall does show more physical stature to Brown. “Through the years, she’s really grown,” Brown said. “When I look at her now she’s as big and strong and carrying as much condition as I’ve ever seen.” Rushing Fall will break from post 3 carrying co-highweight of 124 pounds under Javier Castellano. On July 25, Sistercharlie finished third as the 2-5 favorite in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa, her first start off a near nine-month layoff. Despite the loss, Brown was rather upbeat afterward and believes that race, at 1 1/16 miles, should have her set up for this one. “I’m not going all-in training her for a Grade 2 at the wrong distance,” Brown said. “We would have loved to have won, don’t get me wrong, and I thought I had prepared to win, but I trained her to hopefully win but move forward off the race and not squeeze her early in the year. What really matters for her is getting to these Grade 1’s. The filly’s come back and breezed well. She looks like she got what she needed out of the race.” John Velazquez will ride Sistercharlie, who also carries 124 pounds, from post 5. It was Starship Jubilee who upset the Grade 2 Ballston Spa for her fourth consecutive victory of the year and 18th from 36 starts. Trainer Kevin Attard said that performance was probably Starship Jubilee’s best, but he has loved the way she’s trained since and feels she deserves this Grade 1 shot. “I expect her to move forward off that race, and the distance is right up her alley,” Attard said. Castellano rode Starship Jubilee last time, but is obviously riding Rushing Fall. Jose Ortiz rides Starship Jubilee, under 122 pounds from post 4. Graham Motion has never won the Diana but has finished second in it five times. He will send out Mean Mary and Secret Message on Sunday. Mean Mary has won four consecutive races, most recently the Grade 2 New York at 1 1/4 miles. My Sister Nat, second in the New York, came back to win the Grade 3 Waya Stakes here. Mean Mary did win an allowance race going 1 1/8 miles at Gulfstream last December. “No doubt she goes in the deep end this week,” Motion said. “I wish it was a mile and a quarter but having said that I don’t know why she wouldn’t handle a mile an eighth.” Motion wheels Secret Message back one week after she finished third in the Perfect Sting. Last year, Secret Message finished fourth in the Diana with a troubled trip. “She ran really well the other day,” Motion said. “Everything is so upside down this year as far as the schedule. She’s lightly raced, and a big strong filly, and she came out of the race really well.” Irad Ortiz Jr. picks up the mount on Secret Message. Call Me Love is winless in three starts this year, but was only beaten a neck by Starship Jubilee in the Ballston Spa. In the Beaugay, she was beaten two lengths by Rushing Fall.