Althiqa beats Summer Romance again
Just as they finished in the Just A Game Stakes (Gr 1, 8f) last month, Althiqa (4 f Dark Angel - Mistrusting by Shamardal) beat her stablemate Summer Romance (Kingman) in the Diana Stakes (Gr 1, 9f) at Saratoga on Saturday, the first of 20 Grade One races to be run at the track this summer.
Summer Romance led the field early, with Althiqa settled in fifth. Into the home straight, Althiqa showed an impressive turn of foot to pull away from her stablemate and score by three quarters of a length. La Signare (Siyouni) was another length and three quarters back in third.
"We've been in America since the first of May; it's the 17th of July and we had two big targets in grade 1s and we just couldn't do better," Charlie Appleby’s assistant Sophie Chretien said.
“Summer Romance didn't take the rematch with Althiqa, but what I realized with Althiqa—with all the time she's been with us, she's becoming stronger physically and mentally.”
Althiqa is a Godolphin homebred and one of 73 stakes winners for her Yeomanstown Stud-based sire Dark Angel (Acclamation) who recorded his latest stakes winner on Saturday when Real World impressively won the Steventon Stakes (Listed, 1m2f) at Newbury.
