Jockey Flavien Prat left no doubt about the gameplan with Whitebeam in the $500,000 Diana Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday – take the lead and stay there.
Whitebeam won the 1 1/8-mile Diana for the second year in a row, holding off Moria by three-quarters of a length in a field of 10 fillies and mares four years and up.
Whitebeam. NYRA Photo.
Whitebeam earned her second Diana win and an eighth for trainer Chad Brown
The win marked third straight in the Diana for trainer Chad Brown, who has a total of nine in this turf race, including eight of the last nine years.
The 5-year-old gray daughter of Caravaggio broke quickest of all out of post 6, with 2-1 favorite Didia second and 32-1 longshot Evvie Jets third. The two traded places, but neither would challenge the winner, with Moira and Gina Romantica closing strong to gain second and third, respectively. Didia was fourth.
Brown saddled half the field with his Gina Romantica third, Coppice fifth, Fluffy Socks eighth, and Chili Flag ninth.
Whitebeam became the eighth horse to win the Diana twice.
“It’s a rare feat. Sistercharlie did it for me. She’s in rare company. I know she had things her own way on the front today but if you look at her form, she’s been a pretty consistent horse over here,’’ Brown said of Whitebeam, bred in England. “I was cautiously optimistic she’d run her best race of the year the way she was training since her last race. It’s really how her year started off last year – she needed one run to get going and she got better as the year went on.”
For those who bet horse racing, the Diana was the highlight on a Saturday packed with three graded stakes: Mo Plex ($5.70) won the $175,000 Sanford Stakes (G3) for 2-year-olds, and Carl Spackler ($3.50) won the $175,000 Kelso Stakes (G3) on the turf.
$175,000 Sanford Stakes (G3)
With favorite Mentee scratched due to a fever, Mo Plex took the lead out of the gate from the outside 7 post and was never headed, beating fast-closing favorite Studleydoright by one length.
Trained by Jeremiah Englehart, the 2-year-old New York-bred son of Complexity is now 2-for-2 and likely headed to the Hopeful Stakes (G1) at the Spa on Sept. 2. Mo Flex won his career debut by 10 lengths at Aqueduct on June 20.
Mo Plex was ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr.
“We broke on top, he broke sharp today a lot more sharp than last time,’’ Ortiz said. “I tried to keep him together, he was looking around a little bit and playing around, I think. He is a young horse, so I tried to keep him focused all the way to the wire. When we turned for home, I asked him, and he responded well. I had to keep him busy to keep his attention to get the job done. He is a really nice horse, he has talent.”
$175,000 Kelso Stakes (G3)
Course management worked well for 3-4 favorite Carl Spackler ($3.50) in a half-length victory over Talk of the Nation in a short field of four going a mile on a firm inner turf.
Carl Speckler. NYRA Photo.
Trained by Chad Brown, the 4-year-old chestnut colt stalked the pace, took the lead at the three-sixteenths pole and outdueled Talk of the Nation in the final furlong.
Carl Spackler, owned by e Five Racing Thoroughbreds, is the name of the groundskeeper (Bill Murray) in the movie “Caddyshack.”
It was a return to the winner’s circle after a fifth-place finish in the Poker Stakes (G3) at the Spa on June 8. At the end of 2023, Carl Spackler won the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (G2) and Saranac Stakes (G3) at the Spa and opened his 4-year-old campaign with a win in the Opening Verse Stakes at Churchill Downs in May.
“In the last race (Poker), in hindsight, maybe he bounced a little bit off the Churchill race. He had a challenging trip in there and was able to gut it out off a long layoff,” Brown said. “I didn’t really react to the result. I just got him back to his normal training routine and he redeemed himself today.”
Ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, the winning time was 1: 34.72. Next up for Carl Spackler could be the Fourstardave Handicap (G1) on Aug. 1.