How to bet with, and against, Bleecker Street in the Diana Stakes

Unbeaten sensation #3 Bleecker Street (6-5) will put her sterling 7-for-7 mark on the line in Saturday’s $500,000 Diana S. (G1) at Saratoga. The nine-furlong turf test attracted a field of six high-quality fillies and mares, with a total of four coming from the Chad Brown shedrow.

Bleecker Street, who is trained by Brown, has parlayed her explosive turn of foot into four graded stakes victories in succession, capped by an impressive triumph in the New York S. (G1) at Belmont Park on June 10. The daughter of Quality Road has won at nine panels or more in three straight and appears to be training in fine fashion in anticipation of her Spa debut. The four-year-old gray will take back in the early stages and likely benefit from having a pair of very swift stablemates in the field. Irad Ortiz Jr. retains the mount on the star.

Honey Fox S. (G3) queen #6 In Italian (6-1) intrigues me on the stretch out to 1 1/8 miles for the initial time for Brown. By Dubawi, the chestnut has been part of a sharp early tempo in each of her last pair of assignments at one-mile when finishing second in the Distaff Turf Mile S. (G2) and third in the Just A Game S. (G1), and a more sensible trip on Saturday will make her a stubborn foe in the lane with her top showing.

The four-year-old still has plenty of room to improve with just six career outings under her belt, and she appears to be sharp currently after firing a five-furlong bullet at Belmont Park most recently. The talented filly is the value of the contest from a fine outside post under Joel Rosario.

A case can easily be made for the remaining four contenders in the field, as each possesses a lot of ability, including Grade 2 winner #1 Technical Analysis (3-1), Balanchine S. (G2) queen #2 Creative Flair (8-1), Group 1 starlet #4 Rougir (3-1), as well as recent Mint Julep S. (G3) runner-up #5 Dalika (15-1). But I will stick with my top pair.

Diana Wagers

• $36 exacta: 3 with 6 ($36)
• $12 exacta: 6 with 3 ($12)