Proviso, Forever Together doing well following Diana

PROVISO (GB) (Dansili [GB]) exited her narrow victory in

Saturday's Diana S. (G1) in good order, trainer Bill Mott reported Sunday morning.

In the Diana, the Juddmonte Farms homebred stalked a modest pace and held off

multiple challengers to prevail by a head and earn her third consecutive Grade 1

win, and her Hall of Fame conditioner was quick to praise the five-year-old mare

for her performance.

"It was a good effort," Mott said. "(Her versatility) makes it easier when

you enter and the race comes up a particular way. She was a little rank, but not

too bad. When they're going that slowly, they're apt to be a little rank."

Mott said he was considering a number of options for Proviso's next start,

including the Ballston Spa S. (G2) on Travers Day, August 28.

Champion FOREVER TOGETHER (Belong to Me), whose bid for a third consecutive win in the Diana was narrowly thwarted by Proviso and Shared Account

(Pleasantly Perfect), was also doing

well Sunday morning ,though her connections suspected she was suffering from some

wounded pride.

"I didn't come back to the barn right away after the race because I had a

runner in at Penn National and wanted to watch the race, but apparently she was

very difficult to handle coming back," Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan

Sheppard said. 

Forever Together's most recent win came in the 2009 Diana. In six

starts since, she has three second-place finishes and three third-place finishes

and has not been beaten more than 1 1/2 lengths in events like the Breeders' Cup

Filly & Mare Turf (G1), First Lady S. (G1) and Gamely S. (G1).

"It's harder, I think (to lose by such narrow margins), because you feel it

was so close and within reach," Sheppard said. "When you get beat fair and

square, you say you got beat by a better horse, but this way you say well, 'if

we'd laid a bit closer,' or 'if we hadn't come out behind those horses at the

top of the stretch.'

"She seems about as good as she's always been and I know you can say she

hasn't won a race in a year, but she won the Diana last year by a head and she

lost by a head this year, so that's not a very big difference."

Sheppard said the ultimate goal for Forever Together would remain the

Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf on November 5 at Churchill Downs, and that she would likely make two starts

between now and then, though he had not picked out the spots yet.

"We're not complaining as long as she's showing up and running well in tough

company," Sheppard added.