Dickinson, Lady Eli to Meet Again in Diana

The résumé Dickinson has compiled in recent months would suggest her days of being overlooked should be a thing of the past.

Since trying the turf for the first time in September, in an attempt by trainer Kiaran McLaughlin to help the Godolphin homebred find her form, the 5-year-old Medaglia d'Oro   mare has reinvented herself and revitalized her barn. Of her seven wins, five have come on her new favorite surface. And in her first run against grade 1 company, she bested Lady Eli.

Still, she has yet to go off as the favorite in any of her grass outings, a stat that—thanks to multiple grade 1 winner Lady Eli—doesn't figure to change when she goes to post in the $500,000 Diana Stakes (G1T) at Saratoga Race Course July 22. If Dickinson's form continues at its current rate of progression, however, it will be hard for widespread recognition to not follow.

"There are some good stories around the other fillies, but she's our big filly in the barn this year because we retired so many outstanding horses the last year," McLaughlin said. "She is certainly not overlooked when it comes to Team McLaughlin."

In a turf female division already bursting with exceptional talent, Dickinson is an unexpected but authoritative addition to the upper echelon. With only a maiden and allowance victory to show for her first eight starts on the main track, the daughter of grade 1 winner Little Belle had her connections smacking themselves for not trying her on grass sooner when she drew off to a 4 1/2-length victory going 7 1/2 furlongs on the lawn at Parx Racing Sept. 6.

Following back-to-back graded scores in the Suwannee River (G3T) and Hillsborough (G2T) stakes this season, the bay mare got thrown into arguably the toughest race of the Keeneland spring meet when she faced the aforementioned Lady Eli—along with fellow grade 1 winners Time and Motion, Catch a Glimpse, and Illuminant—in the April 15 Coolmore Jenny Wiley Stakes (G1T).

She had every right to get beat that day, especially when she had her momentum stopped between horses in the stretch and had to alter course out to the six path. Instead she responded by doing the improbable. She ran down Lady Eli to become just the third rival to defeat the Breeders' Cup-winning, laminitis-conquering filly.

"The interesting thing about getting stopped that day is that Lady Eli went by us and then we came back to nip her," McLaughlin said. "Had we not gotten stopped and not come back to nip her, she might have nipped us, because Lady Eli is always so game and catches you. So it could have been a plus in a way.

"Lady Eli is in there again and we have a lot of respect for her. She'll be tough. But our filly is doing great and she is ready to go."

In her most recent outing, Dickinson finished third in the June 10 Longines Just a Game Stakes (G1T) at Belmont Park | BloodHorse.com Track Profile">Belmont Park, beaten that day by Lady Eli's stablemate and fellow Diana entrant, Antonoe. While Dickinson gave up eight pounds to the winner that day, they are both weighted at 121 Saturday, with Lady Eli the highweight at 123 off her May 27 victory in the Gamely Stakes (G1T).

"The weights are definitely better for this race for Dickinson," McLaughlin said. "It's a plus for us in our favor, but it's still a tough race."

One of the great storylines in racing is how Lady Eli has been her usual stalwart self following her comeback from a 13-month layoff to recover from laminitis in both front feet. The daughter of Divine Park rated just off a tepid pace in the Gamely en route to a half-length win and could easily end up dictating the early action in the 1 1/8-mile Diana.

"It looks like there might be a slow pace in here as well," said trainer Chad Brown, who also will saddle Antonoe. "We're confident she can place herself where we need her. She likes the track here and the Diana is a special race for our team."

Juddmonte Farms' homebred Antonoe is undefeated in two North American starts and is coming off an impressive win in her graded stakes debut, when she rallied from seventh to take the Just a Game by three-quarters of a length over Sassy Little Lila. The daughter of First Defence has four wins from eight starts and will be stretched out to nine furlongs for the first time.

 "She's a top-class horse. I was more concerned with the cutback (to one mile) in the Just a Game than to this," Brown said. "A mile and an eighth is fine for her."

Diana S. (G1T)

Saratoga Race Course, Saturday, July 22, 2017, Race 10

• 1 1/8m
• Turf
• $500,000
• 3 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
• 6:18 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Harmonize (KY)	John R. Velazquez	121	William I. Mott	20/1
2	2Antonoe (KY)	Javier Castellano	121	Chad C. Brown	3/1
3	3Lady Eli (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	123	Chad C. Brown	4/5
4	4Quidura (GB)	Junior Alvarado	115	H. Graham Motion	8/1
5	5My Impression (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	115	Claude R. McGaughey III	12/1
6	6Dickinson (KY)	Paco Lopez	121	Kiaran P. McLaughlin	9/2