Sistercharlie Bids for Historic Three-Peat in Diana

If Sistercharlie is to become the first horse to win three consecutive runnings of the Diana Stakes (G1T) at Saratoga Race Course, she is going to have to run as well, if not better, than she did the past two years.

The 2018 champion turf female faces a demanding test in the 82nd Diana, a $500,000 race at 1 1/8 miles on turf. Always a top-flight event, it takes on added importance this year due to the cancellation of the Beverly D. Stakes (G1T) at Arlington International Racecourse and with the Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1) being run this fall at Keeneland at 1 3/16 miles.

This leaves horsemen with fewer options for prestigious summer turf starts while leading them toward the Breeders' Cup. At 1 1/8 miles, the Diana is also close in distance to the Filly & Mare Turf, which more often is run at distances ranging from 1 1/4 to 1 3/8 miles depending on the host track's course configuration.

Besides stablemate Rushing Fall, whom Sistercharlie defeated by 1 3/4 lengths in the 2019 Diana, the race includes Starship Jubilee, the 2019 Canadian Horse of the Year who just beat Sistercharlie in the July 25 Ballston Spa Stakes (G2T), and Mean Mary, who has been uncatchable in going 3-for-3 this year.

Also entered in the six-horse lineup are Call Me Love, who split Starship Jubilee and Sistercharlie when second in the Ballston Spa, and multiple graded winner Secret Message, Mean Mary's barn mate. Those two are expected to be the longest shots in the betting.

For the first time since 2017, Sistercharlie has lost two consecutive races, giving the opposition hope. In her final race last year, she ran third at Santa Anita Park in the Nov. 2 Filly & Mare Turf—a race she won at Churchill Downs in 2018—and after returning from a layoff of almost nine months, she also was third in the Ballston Spa. Lacking her customary stretch punch, she wound up a length and a half behind Starship Jubilee and a length and a quarter behind Call Me Love.

Likely fitter in her second start of the year, the 6-year-old Myboycharlie mare aims for her eighth grade 1 victory. Regular rider John Velazquez is up for trainer Chad Brown and owner Peter Brant.

According to track publicity, Sistercharlie is one of just six repeat Diana winners, joining Forever Together (2008-09), Glowing Honor (1988-89), Shuvee (1970-71), Tempted (1959-60), and Miss Grillo (1946-47) in a race inaugurated in 1939.

A three-peat "would be an amazing accomplishment," Brown said.

Brown also aims to keep a personal streak alive. He has won four straight Dianas, also winning it with Lady Eli in 2017 and Dacita in 2016. The first of his five Diana victories came in 2011 with Zagora.

E Five Racing Thoroughbreds' Rushing Fall gives Brown a 1-2 punch, and she hits with power herself. A Breeders' Cup winner like Sistercharlie, having captured the 2017 Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T), she has won graded stakes at ages 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Rushing Fall defended her title in the Coolmore Jenny Wiley Stakes (G1T) July 11 at Keeneland, setting a course record with 1 1/16 miles on a firm course in 1:39.02. She sat within range of pacesetting Jolie Olimpica before outfinishing her by three-quarters of a length.

Jockey Javier Castellano may attempt similar tactics in the Diana, wanting to keep the speedy Mean Mary in his sights.

"They both seem to be training very well and coming into the race the right way," Brown said of his starters. "There are some nice horses in the race, so it looks like another great edition of the Diana." 

Though Alex Campbell Jr.'s Mean Mary is not yet a grade 1 winner, she is on a trajectory to become one. This year in races over longer distances, she captured the La Prevoyante Stakes (G3T), the Orchid Stakes Presented by Rood and Riddle (G3T), and the New York Stakes (G2T).

In a measure of her superiority, eight lengths behind her in the New York Stakes was Call Me Love, who came within two lengths of Rushing Fall in the Beaugay Stakes (G3T) and a neck of Starship Jubilee in the Ballston Spa. 

"She's been pointing to this race for a long time," trainer Graham Motion said of Mean Mary. "With the Breeders' Cup, I need to find out if she can handle these shorter distances. She certainly did before we started running her at these longer races, but not at this level. She's trained really well for this race and hasn't really missed a beat."

Luis Saez is back aboard Mean Mary, who carries 120 pounds, four less than highweights Sistercharlie and Rushing Fall.

With Castellano on Rushing Fall, Jose Ortiz picks up the mount on Starship Jubilee, whom Castellano had ridden in three of her four starts this year, all victories. 

Despite having drawn a number of Filly & Mare Turf prospects, the Diana is not part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series. It goes as the eighth race on a nine-race card at 5:18 p.m. ET.

Entries: Diana S. (G1T)

Saratoga Race Course, Sunday, August 23, 2020, Race 8

• Grade I
• 1 1/8m
• Inner turf
• $500,000
• 4 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
• 5:18 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Call Me Love (GB)	Joel Rosario	120	Christophe Clement	8/1
2	2Secret Message (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	120	H. Graham Motion	20/1
3	3Rushing Fall (KY)	Javier Castellano	124	Chad C. Brown	3/2
4	4Starship Jubilee (FL)	Jose L. Ortiz	122	Kevin Attard	9/2
5	5Sistercharlie (IRE)	John R. Velazquez	124	Chad C. Brown	5/2
6	6Mean Mary (KY)	Luis Saez	120	H. Graham Motion	3/1