Chad Brown vaulted to the top of the Saratoga trainer standings with a three-win day Saturday, capped by Lady Eli (Divine Park)'s triumphant return to the Saratoga winner's circle following a hard-fought tally in the GI Diana S., and the Mechanicville, N.Y. native reported his star mare was in fine condition Sunday morning. The win marked Lady Eli's first win at the Spa since her debut in August 2014, which kicked off a career that has seen her annex five Grade I races. Brown speculated that the Diana may have been the dark bay's best race to date.
“She really dug down deep and put her nose on the wire first,” said Brown. “She ran down a horse [Quidura (GB) (Dubawi {Ire})] that's giving eight pounds to her that was on the lead and on the fence the whole way saving ground. In light of the gate [incident], weight, going wide and still overcoming, it's probably her best performance.”
The gate incident came in the moments prior to the Diana, when stablemate and eventual third-place finisher Antonoe (First Defence) broke through the starting gate, prompting Lady Eli to do the same. While Antonoe ran off momentarily before being pulled up, Lady Eli remained in the hands of her assistant starter. Brown reported that Antonoe was also doing well Sunday morning.
“It's not what you want to see in any race,” said Brown. “You've got horses leaving the gate [early]–that's nothing a trainer wants to see, but fortunately, both horses overcame it and ran terrific.”
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