|07.17.2022|3:42pm
Dubawi filly In Italian lowers Saratoga’s Mellon Course record in winning the Diana
Trainer Chad Brown’s domination of the Diana (G1) continued on Saturday when Peter Brant’s In Italian set a course record for nine furlongs over the Mellon turf course at Saratoga Race Course.
The four-time Eclipse Award-winning conditioner added a seventh Diana score to his ledger, including six of the last seven editions. Three of his previous Diana victresses have gone on to secure honors for champion turf female, including Sistercharlie [2018], who also won the 2019 Diana, Lady Eli [2017], and Rushing Fall [2020]. Zagora, who gave Brown his first Grade 1 triumph in the 2011 Diana, was named champion turf female the following year.
Saturday’s Diana saw a Brown superfecta as In Italian set torrid fractions up front and maintained her advantage into the stretch, fending off a late challenge by graded stakes-winning stablemate Technical Analysis to win by 1 1/4-lengths in a course record 1:45.06. Stablemates Bleecker Street and Rougir finished third and fourth, respectively.
In Italian garnered a 100 Beyer Speed Figure for her record-setting performance.
“I’m very fortunate to have those four horses able to participate,” Brown said. “Obviously it was a very short field, but I can’t control that. It’s just another memorable accomplishment for our team and a wonderful day at the races for a lot of friends and family. It’s certainly a day and a feat I’ll always remember.”
Entering the Diana off a third in the Longines Just a Game (G1), In Italian was the longest shot of the Brown foursome at odds of 8-1, which included Grade 1 winners Bleecker Street and Rougir as well as Technical Analysis. But the 4-year-old British-bred Dubawi chestnut rose to the occasion when it mattered most, building on a consistent resume which also includes a triumph in the Honey Fox (G3) in March at Gulfstream Park.
“I wouldn’t have run her if I didn’t think she had a chance to win,” Brown said. “I thought all four horses were really lined up and ready to run from whatever their individual styles were. Each horse had a plan and each horse a really fair shot to get their trip and do it. All of them got good trips. In Italian just found a way to rebreak at the top of the lane and kick on, which would’ve made it hard for any horse to catch her yesterday.”
While In Italian flew in slightly under the radar, Klaravich Stables’ Technical Analysis arrived off a hand-ridden triumph in the Gallorette (G3) at Pimlico while bragging two graded stakes wins at the Spa last summer in the Lake George (G3) and Lake Placid (G2). An unbeaten record in seven starts prior to the Diana made Brant’s Bleecker Street the favorite, but the daughter of Quality Road had to make up ten lengths finishing third. Rougir, owned by Brant and Michael Tabor, just missed third by a neck to complete the superfecta.
Brown did not have any definite plans for their next starts, but said that In Italian could wait for the $600,000 First Lady (G1) on October 8 at Keeneland, where the Breeders’ Cup will be held this year. He also indicated a possibility of a rematch between the top two Diana finishers in the $400,000 Ballston Spa (G2) on August 27 at Saratoga Race Course.
Brown said Rougir will “maybe” target the $500,000 Beverly D. (G1) on August 12 at Churchill Downs, while Bleecker Street will likely return to action sometime in the fall.
Bleecker Street, the lone American-bred filly in the field, captured the 10-furlong Grade 1 New York on June 10 ahead of the Diana, having won three other graded stakes events earlier this year.
“I think to a mile and an eighth to a mile and a quarter, anywhere in that range is fine,” Brown said regarding Bleecker Street. “What I don’t want to do is run her three turns, I don’t think that’s her deal.”
For the past few years, Brown and his owners have gone to public auctions abroad in search of talented horses boasting strong turf pedigrees, including In Italian and Technical Analysis, both of whom were purchased at the 2019 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.
“It’s been a nice addition to cultivate our own horses from scratch, going and buying them and putting them in our system,” Brown said. “In recent years it became harder to buy horses that had already run a little bit, which we used to do more of earlier on in my career. With those horses being more challenging to purchase privately, we just started to have our own farm team of going and buying European-bred horses. You see the successful ones, and you get a batch of them and not every horse works out, but we’ve had tremendous success doing it and it’s something we’ll look to do more of for sure.”
