Exotics Plays for the 2023 Diana Stakes

A compact field of five fantastic turf distaffers will run 1 1/8 miles on the Saratoga turf in Saturday’s $600,000 Diana S. (G1). Conditioner Chad Brown has saddled six of the last seven winners of the race, and he has four of the five entrants in the field this season as he looks to continue his dominance in the affair.

Brown’s sensational #2 In Italian set a course record in the heat in 2022 and has been dominant in posting a pair of Grade 1 tallies from as many tries this campaign. The five-year-old daughter of Dubawi led in gate-to-wire fashion in both the Jenny Wiley S. (G1) at Keeneland and Just A Game S. (G1) at Belmont Park, and she continues to train like clockwork, as well.

In Italian has a superb blend of early zip, a high cruising speed, and a strong closing punch. She is proven on the course and at the distance, and despite an expected short price, the five-year-old is the key horse on top of the vertical exotics.

Recent New York S. (G1) heroine #3 Marketsegmentation continues to move forward and has improved her Brisnet Speed figure on five straight occasions. The dark bay daughter of American Pharoah dons a 7-5-1-1 lifetime mark and I expect her to benefit from cutting back in distance after going 1 1/4 miles in her latest offering. The Kentucky-bred filly possesses good tactical speed and figures to get first run at the favorite turning for home with Jose Ortiz in the controls.

Brown’s #5 Whitebeam gets the nod to finish third and complete the trifecta for her conditioner. This Juddmonte homebred lacks the credentials of her counterparts in the affair, and while she didn’t topple a stellar field at Pimlico most recently, the Caravaggio gray did it the right way. The Euro import has displayed a fine turn of foot in each of her tries on American soil to date, and I could see her making one run in the lane and picking up a nice check under the guidance of Flavien Prat.

Diana Exotics Plays

$30 exacta: 2 with 3 ($30)

$10 exacta: 2 with 5 ($10)

$10 trifecta: 2 with 3 with 5 ($10)

$5 trifecta: 2 with 5 with 3 ($5)