‘Sky’s the limit’ for Diadura

Sep 11, 2016 Jennifer Caldwell/Brisnet.com

While there were no graded events for juvenile fillies this past week, a number of stakes took place. A few of them even proved worthy of making this recap.

DIADURA moved her record to a perfect two-for-two with a 5 1/2-length triumph in the Arlington-Washington Lassie Stakes at Arlington Park on Saturday, September 10.

The dark bay daughter of Hard Spun found herself well back on the backstretch while saving ground on the inside. Jockey Carlos Marquez Jr. angled her out a bit rounding the turn to avoid being trapped on the rail, and Diadura responded with aplomb.

The talented miss squeezed in between rivals and took over in the lane, easily drawing away to be all alone on the wire for trainer Mike Stidham.

The Florida-bred lass improved both her record and BRIS Speed rating, jumping from an 81 for her half-length maiden victory on August 5 to an 89 for the Arlington-Washington Lassie. Though Stidham didn’t say what was next, the conditioner made it clear he has big expectations for Diadura.

“I think the sky’s the limit for her, she’s very, very talented,” he stated after the race. “She’s shown that today.  She’s shown that in the mornings and she shows up in the afternoon, so we’re hoping for big things.”

The Arlington-Washington Lassie used to be a Grade 3 but was downgraded to listed status in 2013.

Also on September 10, SUNSHINE INCLUDED led all the way home in the Small Wonder Stakes at Delaware Park to upset 8-5 favorite Hailey’s Flip by four lengths.

Trained by Anthony Pecoraro, the dark bay miss grabbed command soon after the start and never looked back in the 5 1/2-furlong affair under jockey Erick Rodriguez. Hailey’s Flip was right there the entire way but could never catch the Include filly.

Sunshine Included actually broke her maiden in the Small Wonder Stakes, having finished second in a five-furlong Laurel Park maiden on August 20. She improved by leaps and bounds in the interim, going from a 68 BRIS Speed rating to a 90 for her winning effort.

MADE ME SHIVER’s win in the September 5 Sorority Stakes, the Labor Day feature at Monmouth Park, was another stakes that made this week’s juvenile filly review.

The Steve Asmussen-trained miss stalked just behind and outside of the early leader before moving up to challenge on the turn. The Maclean’s Music filly took command in the stretch and pulled off to score a 1 1/4-length victory with Antonio Gallardo aboard.

Made Me Shiver earned her second career win in the six-furlong race, which was her second try against stakes rivals. The Ontario-bred bay advanced from a 5 3/4-length debut score at Churchill Downs to the Schuylerville Stakes (G3) at Saratoga, where she ran fourth on July 22. The filly returned in this spot for another go against winners and prevailed to tie the 83 BRIS Speed rating she earned in the Schuylerville.

Honorable mention goes out this week to a pair of fillies who broke their maidens on Friday, September 9.

SHIMMERING ASPEN earned her initial victory in her second try at Laurel Park for trainer Rodney Jenkins. The Malibu Moon filly broke from the inside post and led all the home to be 5 1/2 lengths clear on the wire as the 3-2 favorite under Trevor McCarthy.

The gray lass ran third in her August 5 debut, good for only a 70 BRIS Speed rating, but her first visit to the winner’s circle saw the Kentucky-bred filly awarded an 89 BRIS Speed rating.

A couple of hours later on the West Coast, WOOT WOOT put together the same kind of run at Los Alamitos, wiring a maiden claiming contest by 4 1/2 lengths for trainer Peter Miller. The Awesome of Course filly was pressed all the way into the stretch but all it took was Norberto Arroyo Jr. to shake the reins and the bay filly took off.

Just like Shimmering Aspen, Woot Woot was making her second career start in this spot and saw a drastic increase in BRIS Speed numbers from her fourth in her debut (63) to her win on Friday (83).