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Excellent Truth (inside) bests She Feels Pretty in the Diana (NYRA/Coglianese)
Mary Eddy/NYRA Press Office
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Resolute Racing’s Excellent Truth came out on the winning end of a thrilling stretch duel with post-time favorite She Feels Pretty to land her first top-level victory in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Dunkin’ Diana, a nine-furlong Mellon turf test for older fillies and mares, at Saratoga Race Course.
The Diana was originally slated for the Spa’s inner turf, but was moved to the Mellon course following heavy rain on Saturday morning.
The win marked an unprecedented 10th in this event for five-time Eclipse Award-winning conditioner Chad Brown, whose previous Diana scores came with Zagora [2011], Dacita [2016], Lady Eli [2017], Sistercharlie [2018-19], Rushing Fall [2020], In Italian [2022] and Whitebeam [2023-24].
Brown, who credits much of his success to the time he spent working for the late Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel, said he is honored to find the Diana winner’s circle yet again.
“It means a lot. A lot of different horses have done it. Many of the same team members, though,” Brown said. “I know I mention his name a lot – Frankel – but I think about him on days like this. This was a race that I can’t believe he only won twice, he always pointed to it. It was right in his wheelhouse with a female turf horse – he taught me so much. A big part of it is him, his legacy lives on, because it is his system we are using.”
Excellent Truth entered from three consecutive runner-up efforts in Group/Grade 1 events, including the Prix Rothschild last July at Deauville when in the care of conditioner Mauricio Delcher-Sanchez; and in the Jenny Wiley in April at Keeneland and the Just a Game presented by Resolute Racing last out on June 6 here when enduring a wide trip to come up three-quarter-lengths shy of Dynamic Pricing.
The 5-year-old daughter of Cotai Glory would be a bridesmaid no more thanks to a smart trip engineered by Flavien Prat, who has been aboard the mare in each of her outings since moving to the Brown barn this year.
“We felt in her last couple of races, she was probably a little further back [than optimal]. As Flavien and I got to know her, she didn’t have that electric turn of foot that maybe we thought was under the hood when we really turned her loose in a race,” Brown explained. “She took a few strides to get going, a little bit more of a strong, steady run she has. So, he had been commenting to me, particularly after the last race, ‘you know Chad, I probably should’ve been a little closer today, and I would’ve avoided that wide trip on the final turn. I’m going to try to get closer.’”
Excellent Truth emerged from post 4 and stuck close to the sharp-starting Choisya while multiple Grade 1-winning She Feels Pretty took back along the inside under Hall of Famer John Velazquez to stalk in third, watching as Choisya marked the opening quarter-mile in 23.78 seconds over the yielding footing.
Luis Saez let Choisya out a notch down the backstretch while Prat was patient with Excellent Truth and She Feels Pretty was well ahead of the Brown-trained Dynamic Pricing in fourth. The half-mile elapsed in 48.52 and Prat stepped on the gas heading into the turn to challenge Choisya for the lead while She Feels Pretty came under urging from Velazquez, who angled her three-wide around the top pair.
Choisya clung to a precarious lead into the lane after three-quarters in 1:12.61, and She Feels Pretty ranged up to loom large as Excellent Truth was set down for the drive between rivals. Choisya dug in along the inside, and She Feels Pretty drifted in while making things tight for Excellent Truth, but Prat never stopped riding his brave charge as they burst past Choisya to make it a two-horse race inside the final sixteenth.
She Feels Pretty briefly stuck her head in front when Excellent Truth passed the leg-weary pacesetter, and Excellent Truth responded to the challenge with aplomb, willing herself back in front in the shadow of the wire to score by a head in a final time of 1:47.37.
“We had a good trip. She was forwardly placed and then fell back,” said Prat, who won his third consecutive Diana. “She Feels Pretty, turning for home, took the lead on me and just outran me going into the stretch, but my filly fought back. I think she needed every inch of the ground to win the race. I just felt like I had more, like she wasn’t done, and he [Velazquez] came down a bit on me and made a run, but she fought back.”
Velazquez said the Cherie DeVaux-trained She Feels Pretty, who had a four-race graded win streak ended, was simply second best on the day.
“Once I didn’t pass them the way I thought she would pass – she just put a head in front – I was in trouble then,” Velazquez said. “She was going really well until the point I put the head in front and she kind of hung a little bit. The grass may be a little softer than she wants it, but the other horse ran great. I can’t take it away from her. The horse came back, and I got all over her and switched and tried to intimidate her and she came back again.”
It was 4 1/2 lengths back to Dynamic Pricing, who was a nose better than Choisya with the trailing Lady Claypoole completing the order of finish. Be Your Best was scratched.
John Stewart, owner of Resolute Racing, shared his pride in Excellent Truth defeating a compact but strong field.
“I think it’s a testament to NYRA with the weather challenges and everything that came up to have the race run today and the competition we had in the race,” Stewart said. “It wasn’t a big field, but it was really deep. This is what I got into racing for – to make sure we’re competing at the highest level with the best horses, and I think we all saw that today. Any one of those horses could have won that race and it was just phenomenal to get the win.”
Brown added the win was satisfying after the mare’s two near-misses this year.
“I’m really happy for this horse. She had her day today. She has had two tough trips. I think you could argue with a cleaner trip, she could be 3-for-3 in the country,” Brown commented. “She has always trained like a top horse all winter. I want to thank John Stewart and his team. He could’ve picked anyone to train her, I was so happy when she showed up in our barn at Payson this winter. She has never had a bad day. She deserved the win today.”
Bred in Ireland by Sandra Russell, Excellent Truth was a Group 3 winner in France in 2023 before selling for over $1.6 million at the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale this winter. She banked $275,000 in victory while returning $8 on a $2 win wager.
Live racing resumes Sunday with a 10-race card that includes the Grade 3 Quick Call presented by Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation in Race 9. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
