Rushing Fall Runs Down Competition in Diana Stakes
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Photo: Skip Dickstein/Tim Lanahan
Rushing Fall (outside) edges past Mean Mary to win the Diana Stakes at Saratoga Race Course
Every time e Five Racing Thoroughbreds' Rushing Fall steps onto the grass, you can be sure that the 5-year-old mare is ready to give her competitors a master class in turf racing. And as the field left the gate in the $485,000 Diana Stakes (G1T) at Saratoga Race Course, class was most definitely in session.
Redeeming herself for a second-place finish in last year's Diana—one of three missteps in 13 previous starts—Rushing Fall schooled her opponents around the Spa's inner turf Aug. 23 and ran down challenger Mean Mary in a daring stretch duel to win by a neck.
Javier Castellano gives Rushing Fall a big hug after she won the Diana at Saratoga Race Course
"She knows how to win. She's a remarkable horse," trainer Chad Brown said. "This is a horse that has won grade 1s in four straight years. This is very rare company to do this. She's a horse of a lifetime for anybody—for an owner, for a trainer, for racing. We're very fortunate that (owner) Bob Edwards put her back in training. Her last race of the year last year was not good, she's worth a lot of money, and they could easily have sold her and bred her.
"They gave her the time off, and we sent her down to Stonestreet in Ocala like we do every winter where they do a fantastic job and then my team got a hold of her and took it from there. They executed like they always have, and the filly really came through. She's special."
There was a commotion in the gate ahead of the 1 1/8-mile Diana. Secret Message was a late scratch after severely acting up in post 2, which forced the remainder of the field to be backed out while the numbers were readjusted.
After a brief delay, the five-horse field broke clean with Rushing Fall away well under jockey Javier Castellano and out for the early lead. Mean Mary got up quickly on the outside of Rushing Fall and took over to lead the field into the clubhouse turn.
Mean Mary continued to roll along the backstretch and increased her lead to 1 1/2 lengths before being shifted inward to the rail. Rushing Fall was guided out into the formerly occupied two path and pressed the pace as the half-mile went in :48.38. Canadian champion turf female Starship Jubilee kept time with the frontrunners in third, followed closely by Call Me Love in fourth. Sistercharlie brought up the rear just a half-length behind Call Me Love.
Running heads apart for the lead as they entered the final turn, Rushing Fall and Mean Mary set down for their stretch duel and battled all the way to the wire. Rushing Fall, unwilling to yield, put her signature turn of foot to good use, edged Mean Mary in the final strides, and got up to win by a neck in a final time of 1:45.88.
"The plan was to go to the lead. I broke out of the gate and tried to send to dictate the pace, but Mean Mary never took up and tried to take the lead," Castellano said. "I tried to ride smart—it's a mile and an eighth—and I thought it was smarter to save something for the end.
"Today, we were very fortunate. I rode her like she was the best filly in the race. She's very tactical. She doesn't have to be on the lead, she can come from behind also, but I didn't see much other speed in the race, so we tracked the other filly every single step of the way and when I asked her, she responded. She knows how to win. I'm so lucky to ride her because she's one of the best fillies I've rode in my life."
Mean Mary, who entered Sunday's race unbeaten in three starts for 2020, took second. Sistercharlie, who defeated Rushing Fall in last year's Diana, managed to get up in the final furlongs to take third. Starship Jubilee finished fourth, 6 1/2 lengths ahead of Call Me Love, who failed to fire late and faded.
"I thought we would be on the lead unless Mean Mary was really sending, and I could see the first quarter how she really wanted the lead. But when she backed it down, I was scared of Javier getting into the trap of giving up the lead early only to get backed down into," Brown said. "He did a good job to engage (Mean Mary) on the turn and didn't wait too long, and I think that paid dividends late in the race that he hooked her early."
Brown, who also trains champion Sistercharlie, said he was pleased with the third-place finisher's effort Sunday and felt that her form looked promising ahead of a targeted start in the Breeders' Cup World Championships in November.
"I thought she took a nice step forward towards the Breeders' Cup today," Brown said. "This course is very speed-favoring. It's hard to imagine a scenario, no matter what the pace is, where she is going to be able to make up that much ground. It's just the way it's played all meet.
"I thought she ran much better today than she did in the Ballston Spa (G2T), and we can potentially run her (in) one more prep before the Breeders' Cup. I can see her rounding into form right at the right time. I was disappointed that she wasn't right there at the wire but not discouraged that (she) can't get on track for the Breeders' Cup. It's a good step forward."
Bloodstock agent Bradley Weisbord tweeted after Sunday's race that late scratch Secret Message was sound and that all connections were grateful to the gate crew for removing the mare without incident. According to Weisbord, jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. also left the gate unscathed.
The Diana victory marked the fifth consecutive score in the grade 1 turf event for Brown. Rushing Fall is perfect in three starts for 2020, having won the June 3 Beaugay Stakes (G3T) at Belmont Park and the July 11 Coolmore Jenny Wiley Stakes (G1T) at Keeneland. She has an 11-2-0 record from 14 starts with earnings of $2,553,000.
"It's been a really cranked up morning, cranked up afternoon," Edwards said. "To end like that is phenomenal. My heart is still beating in my chest. She's a special mare and a huge part of our operation. Mike Ryan picked her out here at Fasig-Tipton, she went down to Ian Brennan at Stonestreet, and you know the history. At 2, 3, 4, she just kept on going. She is an unbelievable racehorse."
Bred in Kentucky by Fred Hertrich III and John Fielding, Rushing Fall is out of the Forestry mare Autumnal. She was purchased for $320,000 by Ryan, agent, from the consignment of Taylor Made Sales Agency in 2016 to The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's select yearling sale.