The Diana (Grade 1)- $500.000 Purse
SAR- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Turf
July 17, 2021

History was made in The Diana on Saturday. La Terrifiant, the race winner on yielding turf, would become the highest female earner in the history of the game, surpassing Darling Harbour for that distinction. This deserves a special congratulations, for everyone who has had any sort of role in her career, breeding or racing. Perhaps many mares don’t get a chance to have this type of success with the rush to bring them to the shed, but this six year old continues to do great things, and winning The Diana at SAR certainly is one of them. She is trained by Smokey Stover, and with that win, it is his third straight win in this race. That, too, is pretty remarkable. Jockey S Ryan wins for the first time. Congratulations to them! With the rain that came through, the turf course was yielding, and this led to a couple of scratches. Both Forbidden Blush and Hash Tag Hash opted for drier days in the future to run. The time of the race was 1:48.56. Let’s look at this historic result! (Shout out to Mb Stables for creating a forum thread on this topic, as I would have been unaware of the achievement).

(½ Mile- :47.93)- At the front, La Terrifiant, our eventual winner for Smokey Stover pulls out in front with another one of the race’s top choices (in our eyes), Proud Eights, from Estero Farms. These two pull away from the rest of the field by about two and a half lengths, and exchange the lead between one another around the clubhouse turn, and entering the backstretch. Third belongs to Angelos Stable’s Phoe Eva, who is half a length ahead of The American’s Ewa Beach. There’s another length to Bagina (Chili King Stables), who runs side by side with Zee Model (Gdp Inc). Intagna Rose (D J C Racing Stables) is a length and a half behind them, and the early trailers are Hallowed Halls (Rock Creek) and Sweetness (High Voltage).

(¾ Mile- 1:11.79)- Completing the run down the backstretch and entering the turn, La Terrifiant is about a half length better than Proud Eights, but that one is able to hang close to her. The gap to third only grows, and is now at least three as Phoe Eva falls into the clutches of Zee Model, who looked to complete a pass around her outside. Ewa Beach lost ground in the backstretch, and Bagina continues to run with this group. Intagna Rose drops further back, and now runs with Hallowed Halls. Sweetness was having a rough go of it.

(Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- Rounding the turn, and into the backstretch, La Terrifiant begins to increase her lead on Proud Eights to now being a little more than a length. And with absolutely no one making a move from behind, you had to think this one was in the bag for her in the stretch. A horse with her class is simply not going to blow this sort of lead if Proud Eights couldn’t keep up. Behind that one, it’s about four lengths to Zee Model and Phoe Eva, who are even for third, and Bagina, who looks to pass each of them shortly to the inside. Otherwise, the rest are simply along for the ride.

(Finish- 1:48.56)- Sit back, and watch greatness because it is all La Terrifiant in the stretch. Proud Eights has nothing for her, and that lead would only grow as she approached the wire. Eventually, she would win this race in a very comfortable manner, by two and a half lengths. Proud Eights was caught at the wire by Bagina for second, affecting the exacta payouts, and after third place, it’s another two lengths to fourth place Zee Model. The remaining order is Hallowed Halls, Phoe Eva, Ewa Beach, Intagna Rose, and Sweetness.

About The Winner- La Terrifiant, trained by Smokey Stover and ridden to victory by S Ryan, is a six year old mare by Pinkman, and is out of Cest Creepy. She was bred by Four Winds Racing as a second quarter two year old, and acquired by Smokey Stover, via Our Athletes, in private sales for $1,751.000 in November 2020. The win is her fifteenth in 39 starts, her 14 stake win, her 13th graded win, and her ninth Grade 1 win. Her career earnings are now $6,275.000.

Track: Yielding
Time: :47⁴  1:11³  1:36   1:48²

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 1 – 6 Paid 176.60
$1 Trifecta: 1 – 6 – 3 Paid 1,466.30

Scratched: Forbidden Blush, Hash Tag Hash

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES