Sistercharlie, Rushing Fall Meet in Saratoga's Diana

It's the second weekend in July, not the first in November, yet there's a Breeders' Cup feel for the first grade 1 stakes of the 40-day Saratoga Race Course meet.

Chad Brown-trained stablemates Sistercharlie, owned by Peter Brant, and e Five Racing Thoroughbreds' Rushing Fall will tangle in a small but very select field of six in the $500,000 Diana Stakes (G1T) July 13 at the Spa in a matchup of the year's two best American-based turf females.

"It's every bit of a Breeders' Cup race," said Bob Edwards, who races under the e Five banner. "It's a very salty grade 1 stakes."

In Sistercharlie and Rushing Fall alone, the Diana features the winners of eight grade 1 stakes, a figure evenly spilt among the two distaff stars in Brown's all-star barn. Sistercharlie earned all four of those grade 1 wins last year—including a win by a nose in the 2018 Diana—during a campaign that included a victory in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1T) and the Eclipse Award as champion turf female. Rushing Fall also is a Breeders' Cup winner, owning a victory in the 2017 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) and suffered her lone loss in nine career starts by a mere neck. 

In many cases, keeping horses of that caliber apart until the Breeders' Cup would be a high priority for a stable, but the sportsmanship of Edwards and Brant, and Brown's belief the spot was a perfect fit for both horses, will produce a five-star match-up.

"It's a prestigious race," Brown said. "They are good horses in their own right. There are limited options at the grade 1 level so you have to run them against each other."

While the 1 1/8-mile distance might favor Sistercharlie, Brant's Eclipse Award winner will be making her first start in eight months.

Rushing Fall, on the other hand, has already captured two grade 1 stakes in 2019. The Kentucky-bred daughter of More Than Ready  was victorious in both the Longines Just A Game Stakes (G1T) and the Coolmore Jenny Wiley (G1T).

"If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best," Edwards said. "We're going to have to meet (Sistercharlie) at some point this year, so it was just a matter of where. We'll probably meet once or twice this year depending on what Chad wants to do. When he said he wanted to run in the Diana, it was his call. He knows what he's doing."

The Just A Game was the 4-year-old's fourth straight win since her lone defeat, a runner-up finish in the 2018 Edgewood Stakes Presented by Forcht Bank (G3T) at Churchill Downs.

"She's a once-in-a-lifetime horse. She's so versatile. She's won on the lead and from off the pace," Edwards said "She's just unbelievable. Even when she lost, she clipped heels going into the first turn. (Jockey Javier Castellano) did a phenomenal job of settling her and keeping her in the race. She came off that final turn cruising and just got nipped by the horse on the far outside, and I don't know if she saw her and knows she got beat. She powers through. She does not like to lose."

Bred in Kentucky by Fred W. Hertrich III and John D. Fielding out of the Forestry mare Autumnal, Edwards bought Rushing Fall through agent Mike Ryan for $320,000 from the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale. She has earned $1,893,000.

Sistercharlie had some minor setbacks after her Breeders' Cup win, including a fever in the winter, that prevented Brown from giving her a prep race for the Diana. Nevertheless, her recent works indicate she will be a formidable rival in the final furlong.

"Sistercharlie is up against it off the layoff, but she's a champion and a remarkable talent," Brown said. "Unfortunately, I didn't have time to get a prep into her, so here we are."

Bred in Ireland by Ecurie Des Monceaux, Sistercharlie is a 5-year-oild daughter of Myboycharlie out of the Galileo mare Starlet's Sister. Brant acquired her while she was racing in France and her first U.S. start was a close second in the 2017 Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1T). She has seven wins in 11 career starts with earnings of $2,575,603.

Brown and Brant also have entered Homerique, a daughter of Exchange Rate who is coming off a win in the New York Stakes (G2T) June 7 at Belmont Park and is 2-for-2 in the United States, and Thais, who was third in the 2018 Beverly D. Stakes (G1T).

The field also features Mrs. J.V. Shields Jr. and Eugene McFadden's Mitchell Road, a speedy winner of her past four starts for trainer Bill Mott, capped by a 2 ¼-length victory in the Gallorette Stakes (G3T) at Pimlico Race Course on Preakness Stakes (G1) Day, and Nassau Stakes (G2T) winner Secret Message trained by Graham Motion and owned by Madaket Stables, Heider Family Stables, ERJ Racing, Elayne Stables and Steven Bouchey.