Excellent Truth certainly wasn’t winning this out of turn. Since moving to the US and joining Chad Brown, she has finished 2nd in both the Jenny Wiley Stakes and the Just A Game Stakes and so we can definitely say that she has earned the right to be a Grade 1 winner. She was a winner over 10-furlongs in France for Mauricio Delcher Sanchez and so the step up to 9-furlongs at Saratoga on Saturday evening has clearly been in her favour too. On the one hand, she has reversed the form from the Jenny Wiley Stakes with Choisya and she had to brave to do so, fighting to hold her position when the front 3 came close together in the home straight. Once getting a little more room, she was able to use her long stride (race average 25.19 ft) to hold off the runner-up in the closing stages. Having tracked Choisya for most of the opening 6-furlongs, she was ideally placed Flavien Prat, but her willing attitude was ultimately the key to this victory. The other side of the argument, is that she didn’t run the fastest individual furlong split at any point of the race and her top speed of 41.09 mph was surpassed by the runner-up. This was a first grade 1 success, but the nature of the race and the fact that the finishing speed of 103% meant she was ideally placed might lead to the conclusion that this wasn’t a career best and that she ran to a higher level when beaten in the Prix Rothschild and the Just A Game Stakes.

Choisya can be forgiven her 4th placed finish as Luis Saez allowed her to coast home once she was squeezed for room on the inside in the straight. She Feels Pretty brought the best form into the race and was sent off a warm favourite to win another Grade 1. She’s recorded the fastest top speed and ran the fastest 7th and 8th furlongs in the field in 11.37 and 11.24s. However, her connections must be slightly disappointed that having come alongside Excellent Truth, she hasn’t been able to go by. An average stride length of 24.41 feet was considerably shorter than the winner, but as well as having the best top speed figure, She Feels Pretty also had the faster run-out speed (36.86 mph) and there’s a slight suspicion from the data that she didn’t go by when she perhaps should have done. She’s won 7 of her 11 starts, so there is no obvious need to question her attitude, but she is far from certain to reverse this form if they meet again. Dynamic Pricing has finished 3rd, running down Choisya in the final strides, but a line needs to be drawn through this performance. Initially the leaders went quite quickly to the first turn, but then the pace steadied and having been given a patient ride, that left Dynamic Pricing with far too much to do. She has run the fastest final furlong in 11.57s and has ultimately finished 0.77s behind the winner. Over the opening 2-furlongs of the race, she lost 0.82s and that is ultimately what prevented her from being involved in the closing stages. Lady Claypole  was sent off at odds of 33/1 and was ultimately never involved.