Whitebeam noses In Italian to take Diana Stakes

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - For the second straight year trainer Chad Brown had four runners in the Grade 1 Diana field and for the second straight year he won the Grade 1, $500,000 turf race for females with the longest price of the quartet.

Last year, it was In Italian, who at 8-1 led a 1-2-3-4 finish for Brown in the Diana as Bleecker Street, the 4-5 favorite, finished third.

Saturday, In Italian was the 1-5 favorite but it was Whitebeam, at $7.90-1 the longest shot of the Brown entrants, who nailed In Italian on the wire to win the Diana by a nose.

It was a half-length back to Fev Rover, trained by Mark Casse, in third. Brown’s other two entrants, Marketsegmentation and Fluffy Socks, finished fourth and fifth.

It was Brown’s eighth victory in the Diana, all since 2011. Since 2016, he has won seven of the last eight runnings. Five of those wins have come by the margin of nose, head or neck.

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With four Grade 1 wins - and a second - in her last five starts, In Italian was a deserving favorite in the Diana. However, Brown did caution this week that the potential for less-than-firm ground could work against In Italian while aiding others.

While the turf course was officially listed as firm Saturday, rains from Thursday and Friday had left the course with some cut in it, according to the jockeys who rode on it.

In Italian, under Irad Ortiz Jr., made the lead as expected and maintained a one-length advantage through six furlongs in 1:11.86.

Rev Rover, ridden by Javier Castellano, and Whitebeam, under Flavien Prat, were chasing from second and third, respectively.

Midway on the far turn, Whitebeam was continuing to move forward while Rev Rover backed up some. Whitebeam kept coming and though both her and In Italian seemed to labor some in the final furlong, Whitebeam got her nose on the wire first.

Prat thought Whitebeam would be farther back early on but when he found himself within two lengths of In Italian “I thought that was a good position to be in,” Prat said.

Still, in midstretch, Prat wasn’t sure he was going to get up.

“Turning for home I thought I had a chance to go by, at the eighth pole I thought I was going to run second,” Prat said. “The last eighth of a mile they were both tired, but I felt like she really dug in to get the win.”

Whitebeam, a 4-year-old Great Britain-bred daughter of Caravaggio owned and bred by Juddmonte Farm, covered the 1 1/8-miles in 1:48.33 and returned $17.60 to win. Whitebeam was given a 100 Beyer Speed Figure.

“In Italian ran her heart out, I think the turf’s pretty soft and she was going pretty quick,” Brown said. “Flavien rode a good stalking race. [Fev Rover] wanted to be up in there and as Flavien told me he had to go early and keep pressure too because Javier looked like he wanted to be where Whitebeam was.”

Brown was running Whitebeam for only the third time. She was upset by Evvie Jets in the Plenty of Grace Stakes at Aqueduct before winning the Grade3 Gallorette at Pimlico.

“This filly trained in my top handful of horses all winter at Payson Park,” Brown said. “I was shocked she got beat first time out, to be honest. She trained really well. I’m fortunate Juddmonte sent me this horse in excellent shape.”

Brown said he was disappointed that In Italian got beat in the Diana, but not in her effort.

“You hate to see a horse that’s on a winning streak and the leader of the division get it snapped, whether it’s your horse or not,” Brown said. “She ran really too good to lose. On this soft of turf, those fractions will have proven to be pretty quick today. But that’s horse racing and it’s certainly Saratoga; anything can happen here as we know.”

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