Racing fans will find it easy to make a case for their pick in the $500,000 Diana Stakes (G1) at Saratoga on Saturday, as each of the seven fillies and mares in the field is a graded stakes winner. Among them are Florida-breds My Princess Jess and Dynaslew, with the former looking to regain her old form and the latter having recently come into her own.
My Princess Jess (8-1) will be taking a second crack at the Diana after finishing fifth in last year’s edition of the nine-furlong turf race. The daughter of Stormy Atlantic, bred at Adena Springs South in Williston, finished 2 ½ lengths behind Forever Together, who has won the Diana in consecutive years and returns as the 2-1 morning-line favorite.
My Princess Jess earned the biggest win of her career on the Saratoga lawn in 2008, capturing the Lake George Stakes (G2) by three-quarters of a length. She also won the Boiling Springs Stakes (G3) at Monmouth Park that summer. As a 4-year-old last year, she won the Beaugay Stakes (G3) on the Belmont Park lawn, but she’s gone winless in six subsequent starts.
My Princess Jess, trained by Barclay Tagg for Lael Stable, has won five of her 17 starts for $548,515. She most recently was third in the Just A Game Stakes (G1) on Belmont’s turf course last month. The two horses who beat her that day, Proviso (5-2) and Phola (4-1), return in the Diana.
Cornelio Velasquez, who has ridden My Princess Jess in six of her last seven starts, retains the mount, and the pair will break from post No. 2.
Dynaslew (15-1), a homebred for Ocala’s Live Oak Plantation, won the Beaugay in May, leading from start to finish for a 3 ¼-length victory, with My Princess Jess finishing fourth. Eibar Coa rode the 4-year-old Dynaformer filly that day and retains the mount for trainer Seth Benzel. The pair will break from the No. 5 post.
Dynaslew has run on the Saratoga lawn three times, winning a $53,000 allowance last summer and finishing second in her other two tries. For her career, she has four wins and as many runner-up efforts in 11 races for $220,852.
Dynaslew most recently finished second in the All Along Stakes (G3) at Colonial Downs behind Shared Account (8-1), who returns in the Diana.
The late-running Forever Together is winless in five graded events since capturing last year’s Diana, though she’s placed in each of those races, most recently finishing second behind the talented Tuscan Evening in the Gamely (G1) at Hollywood Park in May. She turned in a bullet workout at Saratoga on Monday, breezing five furlongs in 59 3/5 seconds.
“She’s consistently been running in Grade 1 races and the occasional Grade 2,” said Hall-of-Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard. “If you wanted to be harsh, you could criticize her for not having enough punch, but I don’t think that’s the case. She’s been the victim of paceless races.”
Proviso has run in five straight Grade 1 events since coming to the United States from Europe, and she’s won two straight – the Just A Game and the Frank E. Kilroe Mile Handicap at Santa Anita in March.
“She was sitting second the last time, and she could be in that spot once again,” said Hall-of-Fame trainer Bill Mott. “Of course, each race is a little different. It’s a competitive field.”
Phola’s loss in the Just A Game snapped her three-race winning streak that included the Distaff Turf Mile (G2) at Churchill Downs in May and the Hillsborough Stakes (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs in March.
“I thought she ran a big race,” trainer Todd Pletcher said of Phola’s performance in the Just A Game. “She was probably affected more than anyone by the slow fractions. I think Proviso is clearly the filly to beat, but we hope with a little more pace that we might be able to turn the tables.”
The field also includes Maram (6-1), who won the Miss Grillo Stakes (G3) at Belmont Park in 2008 and most recently captured the $97,000 Miss Liberty Stakes at Monmouth Park on July 4.
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Photo by Coglianese
