2025 Diana Stakes Preview

Key Takeaways:

• She Feels Pretty leads the field into the Diana with a four-race win streak, but faces the toughest competition of her career and will offer little betting value despite being battle-tested and favored to win again.
• Choisya is a major rebound threat if the turf stays firm, with excuses for her last out and proven Grade 1-winning form on fast footing, plus the tactical speed to sit a perfect trip.
• Be Your Best may get brave on the front end, as the likely lone speed under Irad Ortiz, Jr.—and though she’s facing deeper waters, her Gamely win was fast and front-running, making her a live longshot to steal it.

The Grade 1 feature this weekend at Saratoga is the $500,000 Diana Stakes (G1) on Saturday, July 12. Traditionally, the opening-weekend feature at Saratoga, it feels like the second weekend at Saratoga after Belmont Park construction sent the July 4th Racing Festival there. Though the track is still heralding this weekend as the traditional opener.

The Diana is a 1 ⅛-mile route on the inner turf course. The race drew a field of six—and though it is short on number, it is long on talent. New York Stakes (G1) winner She Feels Pretty carries a four-win streak, but will clash against the likes of Jenny Wiley (G1) winner Choisya, Gamely (G1) winner Be Your Best, and Just a Game (G1) winner Dynamic Pricing.

Horses who run well in the Diana often continue to lead the filly and mare turf division, so the race is both an exciting betting opportunity and a peek at what’s to come through the summer and fall.

2025 Diana Stakes Information

• Race Date: Saturday, July 12
• Track: Saratoga Race Course
• Post Time: 6:14 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
• Distance: 1 ⅛ miles
• Age/Sex: 4-year-olds and up, fillies and mares
• Where to Watch: FanDuel Racing, Fox Sports 2
• Where to Bet: FanDuel Racing

Diana Stakes Draw and Odds

These are the entrants for the 2025 Diana Stakes, including post positions, trainers, jockeys, and morning-line odds.

Diana Stakes Prep Race Results

The six entrants in the Diana come out of just three different races. And, well befitting this top-class turf affair, all of the runners were last seen in a Grade 1 race on the lawn.

Three runners come out of the Just a Game (G1), contested June 6 at a mile over yielding Saratoga grass. Those include the late-running winner Dynamic Pricing, her narrow runner-up stablemate Excellent Truth, and seventh-place Choisya, who did not get the better ground she needed.

Two go east after filling out the exacta in the Gamely (G1) on May 26 at Santa Anita. Be Your Best took that 1 ⅛-mile race gate to wire. Lady Claypoole rallied from near the rear, proving second best on the day.

The only one turning back in distance is the likely favorite, She Feels Pretty. She tracked the pace and prevailed by a hard-fought half-length in the New York (G1) on June 6 at the Spa, a race that covered 1 3/16 miles.

Diana Stakes Contenders

These are the runners in the 2025 Diana Stakes, in order of their post draws.

1. She Feels Pretty: The current leader of the middle-distance female turf division, she has won four straight races leading into the Diana. She didn’t love the wet ground in the New York … but the best horses just win, and she gritted out a victory. That race should keep her nice and fit for this shorter affair, and she is already a Grade 1 winner at 1 ⅛ miles. Clear skies in the days leading up to the race mean she should get the better ground she likes, too. The biggest question is betting value. She’ll be a short price against the best company she has ever faced, though it would be no surprise to see her run to it.
2. Choisya: She comes into the Diana off a 12-length defeat in the Just a Game, but that race was over yielding ground. She fits the profile of a ground-dependent European who underperformed on softer footing and thus went abroad in search of Grade 1 glory over better ground. She has done it: she won a pair of Grade 2 races at Meydan this winter, and then dug in to win the Jenny Wiley (G1) at Keeneland. With dry weather this week, Choisya should get the ground she needs—and with tactical speed and a nice win over classy Cinderella’s Dream at 1 ⅛ miles three back, she could provide betting value to rebound.
3. Lady Claypoole: A new face to graded-stakes company, she won her stakes debut in the Santa Ana (G3) in March, in her 19th lifetime start. She achieved a Grade 1 placing at this distance last out in the Gamely, holding her form well. However, this is a huge step forward in terms of class. As good as she has been at 1 ⅛ miles on the lawn, the east-coast turf horses tend to be better than the west-coast set, and she will need to run the race of her life to measure up if her foes are on their game Saturday.
4. Excellent Truth: This Chad Brown trainee hasn’t won her Grade 1 yet, but has been knocking on the door. Three back, she missed by a length to the top-class Mqse de Sevigne in the Prix Rothschild at Deauville for her previous trainer Mauricio Delcher Sanchez. After selling to American owner Resolute Racing and being moved to the Chad Brown barn, she finished a troubled second to Choisya in the Jenny Wiley and then second to stablemate Dynamic Pricing in the Just a Game. Both efforts were solid and suggest she has a top-level win in her, though she may be overbet given the presence of Brown and Flavien Prat in her corner.
5. Dynamic Pricing: The “other” Chad Brown horse in the Just a Game, she rallied best of all into a torrid pace to win by three-quarters of a length over Excellent Truth. That happened over yielding going, though, and wetter ground may be her comparative advantage. Both that victory and her win in the Edgewood last year came over a yielding course. That’s not to say she’s bad on firm ground—she won the Beaugay (G3) on a firm track three back. But, her usual effort on better ground is not fast enough to be a threat against this class of company.
6. Be Your Best: She ran very well to win the Gamely last out at Santa Anita. She was clear at every call, but set a legitimately quick pace for the distance and ran on to win well clear. Speed will be her asset this time against these tougher foes—she is the only one in a field of just six who tends to make the front, so Irad Ortiz, Jr. will almost certainly put her on the lead and dare the rest to catch her. At a price, it could be worth considering her to steal it, especially under Ortiz. However, it won’t be an easy task, as She Feels Pretty and Choisya will be stalking close behind.

Diana Stakes FAQ

Q: When is the 2025 Diana Stakes?

A: The 2025 Diana Stakes happens on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Post time is scheduled for 6:14 p.m. EDT, and it is the 11th race of 12 on the card.

Q: Where is the Diana Stakes?

A: The Diana Stakes takes place at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the Diana Stakes?

A: Chad Brown has won the Diana Stakes nine times, leading all trainers. That includes the last three editions of the race. Brown has two chances to extend his streak in 2025, Excellent Trouth and Dynamic Pricing.

Q: Who is the favorite for the Diana Stakes?

A: The even-money morning-line favorite is She Feels Pretty, who carries a four-win streak into the race, with three of those wins coming in Grade 1 company. Given her class and consistency, she should hold as the favorite come post time.

Q: Who is the best Diana Stakes jockey?

A: John Velazquez has won the Diana Stakes six times, most recently with Sistercharlie in 2019. Velazquez can add to his record this year if he wins with She Feels Pretty for trainer Cherie DeVaux.

Q: Who won the Diana Stakes in 2024?

A: Whitebeam won the Diana in both 2023 and 2024 for trainer Chad Brown and jockey Flavien Prat. Whitebeam is not running again this year, but Brown and Prat unite behind Excellent Truth in 2025. Brown also sends out Dynamic Pricing under jockey Dylan Davis.

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