Fayette (Grade 3)- $350.000 Purse
KEE- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
October 25, 2025

Despite being in a barn which is not shy about running horses in stakes, Diametric had spent most of his career running in overnights, and consistent hitting the board in them. In August, Diametric finally got his chance to step up in a high paying ungraded race in 2025, and would run second in the $200.000 Jones Stakes. Now, in his graded debut, he would go wire to wire to win the Grade 3 Fayette. He was not our top choice, but was among our picks for the race. Diametric is trained by Mb Stables, and it is the fourth win for the trainer in his race. Jockey J R Velazquez was aboard for the win, his second, and it’s also the second year in a row that these two have teamed up for a Fayette victory. Congratulations to them! The time of the race was 1:47.12, and that’s a new stake record. Let’s take a closer look at it!

(½ Mile- :47.08)- Our eventual winner from Mb Stables, Diametric, is one of three horses that break quickly out of the game, and he will initially have company in the form of Booker and Burger King, respectively trained by TwinTowersRacing and Team 7 Illusions. While holding the rail, Diametric’s graceful early stride will allow him to in front of those two by a length after half a mile. There’s a break about 2-3 lengths to the fourth place Speter (Sheffler Stables), who himself is nearly a length ahead of Hurricane Ridge (The Sidley Stud). It’s further back to Caveat Emptor (High Voltage) and Cheap Ways (Riggins Racing).

(3/4 Mile- 1:10.94)- Diametric runs tight to the entering the turn, and now leads Booker by a length and a half. Burger King loses some ground to that one, while Speter shows much more interest and pushes forward. Hurricane Ridge is now all by himself on the rail and fifth, while Caveat Emptor and Cheap Ways remain at the back.

(Top of Stretch, 1.7F To Go )- Rounding the turn and entering the stretch, Diametric looks to put this field away, stretching his lead to two as Booker now also drops back. Speter is now in third, and making progress on that one, but still has quite a bit of ground to make up on Diametric. Burger King is packing it in, while Hurricane Ridge was lacking response. Caveat Emptor and Cheap Ways continued to trail the field.

(Finish- 1:47.12)- With a furlong to go, it looks like our 12/1 longshot has this one in the bag and will win comfortably running to the wire. But in the end, this horse that was running the longest he has ever had would only win by half a length as Speter and a hard charging Cheap Ways refused to concede the victory. Diametric really never had his win in doubt, but Mb Stables should be glad that this race was not even a quarter of a furlong longer. Diametric prevails, with Speter taking second and Cheap Ways third. It’s two lengths further back to Caveat Emptor, who gets a fourth place check for passing tiring rivals. Hurricane Ridge, Booker, and Burger King round it out.

About The Winner- Diametric, trained by Mb Stables and ridden to victory by J R Velazquez, is a four year old gelding by Inside Draw and is out of Brittle Sun. He was bred by Barcelona Farms in California as a first quarter two year old, and was acquired by Mb Stables very early in his career, for $100.000 in a February 2024 private sale. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his sixth in 18 starts, and his first stake win of any sort. His career earnings are now $502.420.

Track: Fast
Time: :47  1:10⁴  1:35  1:47

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 1 – 5 Paid 40.20
$1 Trifecta: 1 – 5 – 6 Paid 111.50

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES