Diana

Relishing the rain that had pelted the Saratoga turf, Sangster Family

Stable's ANGARA (GB) (Alzao) stormed home late beneath Fernando Jara to capture

the $500,000

Diana H. (G1) in a thrilling three-way photo. In so doing, the five-year-old

mare pushed her earnings beyond the $1 million mark. Moreover, she avenged her

defeat in last year's firm-ground edition, when she was third to the Bill

Mott-trained Sand Springs. Now in Mott's shedrow herself, Angara helped him celebrate a memorable birthday with his second straight Diana score. It was a

fitting reward for the shrewd horseman, who rerouted the soft-ground specialist Angara to the Diana after the rain rolled into Saratoga Springs.

Mott's other entrant, My Typhoon (Ire) (Giant's Causeway), set the early

tempo through splits of :23 4/5, :47 4/5 and 1:12 1/5. Sweet Talker (Stormin

Fever) and Argentina (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) took up stalking positions, while

Angara was rating kindly in fifth in the six-horse field. Sweet Talker was the

first to confront the pacesetter and grabbed a narrow lead in the stretch,

stopping the teletimer in 1:36 2/5 for the mile, but challengers were throwing

down the gauntlet on either side. As Argentina loomed up menacingly along the

inside, Angara was slicing between foes and rapidly gaining momentum on the

outside. The three gladiators were nearly abreast in deep stretch, but Angara

found an extra gear in the shadow of the line to take the spoils by a head. The

bay completed 1 1/8 miles on the yielding turf in 1:49 1/5.

"Angara was supposed to go to the Beverly D. (S. [G1] at Arlington Park on

August 12) until it rained yesterday," Mott explained. "I think (Jara) probably

has a little confidence in her, so he waited for the proper time to make his run

and he was able to wiggle his way through just outside the eighth pole. She came

running at the end when it counted."

The ever-brave Sweet Talker held second by a nose over Argentina, who was

three-quarters of a length ahead of My Typhoon. The even-money favorite Lady of

Venice (Fr) (Loup Solitaire), the only three-year-old in the field, never landed

a blow against her elders and checked in another head back in fifth. Sabellina (Langfuhr)

trailed throughout, and the Mott-trained Wend (Pulpit) was withdrawn because of

the yielding conditions.

"It's tough to be disappointed when she ran so hard," trainer Graham Motion

said of Sweet Talker's effort. "She ran strictly on guts. I thought she ran a

huge race. This race might have been longer than she wants to go against this

caliber of fillies and mares, but we wanted to do this."

The 7-2 second choice in the wagering, Angara furnished mutuels of $9.60,

$4.10 and $3.10. Sweet Talker returned $4.80 and $3.40 at odds of 9-2, ending

the $41.60 exacta. The 4-1 Argentina gave back $3.40 to show while rounding out

the $154 trifecta (2-4-3).

With the $300,000 winner's share, Angara boosted her earnings to $1,071,344

from a scorecard of 19-6-3-3. Her previous career highlights had come in 2005,

when Patrick Biancone trained her to victories in the Beverly D. S. (G1) and

Bewitch S. (G3). After failing to reach her reserve when bringing a bid of $2.2

million at the Fasig-Tipton November sale, she was privately acquired by her

current owners. Since transferring to Mott for her 2006 campaign, she added two

more bullet points to her resume with a third in the Sheepshead Bay H. (G2) and

most recently a rallying runner-up effort in the New York Breeders' Cup H. (G2).

Bred by Dayton Investments in England, Angara is out of the Alleged mare Ange

Bleu, making her a full sister to French stakes winner and Group 3-placed

Arlesienne and a half-sister to Group 2 winner Actrice (Danehill). Ange Bleu has also produced an unraced juvenile filly named

Altesse Imperiale (Rock of Gibraltar [Ire]). This is a rich black-type family

whose most illustrious members include 1993 French highweight and Breeders' Cup

Classic (G1) shocker Arcangues (Sagace [Fr]); 1998 English One Thousand Guineas

(Eng-G1) queen Cape Verdi (Ire) (Caerleon); French Group 3 winner and multiple

classic-placed Agathe (Manila), herself the dam of 2002 French and English

highweight and classic winner Aquarelliste (Danehill); and the highly regarded

Galatee (Galileo [Ire]), unbeaten winner of the Blue Wind S. (Ire-G3) in May.

Although Mott has no firm plans for the winner, he mentioned that Wend may

now point for the Beverly D. Like a good general, the horseman is still calling

audibles and deploying his troops where they can make the biggest impact.