The $485,000 Grade 1 Dunkin' Diana Stakes drew some of the best turf fillies and mares the division has to offer, and down the stretch it was Excellent Truth and She Feels Pretty that put on a show July 12 at Saratoga Race Course. As the grandstand roared, it was Excellent Truth who outlasted her four-time Grade 1-winning rival in the final strides for a narrow victory by a head. The win gave trainer Chad Brown a historic 10th victory in the 1 1/8-mile race. It was his fourth Diana triumph in a row and his ninth win in the last 10 years.

In the winner's circle, Brown placed praise on his former mentor, the two-time Diana winning Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel.

"It means a lot," Brown said of the achievement. "(Frankel) taught me so much, and I think about him on days like this. A big part of it is him, and his legacy lives on."

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Jockey Flavien Prat got Excellent Truth in the perfect position, stalking just behind Jenny Wiley Stakes winner Choisya through fractions of :23.78, :48.52, and 1:12.61. Prat pushed forward at the quarter pole just as She Feels Pretty and John Velazquez rallied to her outside.

"Turning for home, (She Feels Pretty) took the lead on me, just outran me going into the stretch," Prat said. "I just felt like I had more, that she wasn't done."

Prat briefly found himself in tight quarters at the eighth pole as She Feels Pretty took command, but Excellent Truth dug in to fight back for a head victory in a 1 1/8-mile time of 1:47.37 on a less-than-firm turf course labeled good. She paid $8 to win. Just a Game Stakes winner Dynamic Pricing — another Chad Brown trainee — finished third beaten 4 1/2 lengths.

Excellent Truth made the transition from being a Group 3-winning and Group 1-placed filly in France to a Grade 1 winner in the United States. Her acquisition was facilitated by John Stewart of Resolute Racing, who spent $10 million bolstering the stable with European fillies that could handle softer turf courses.

"Last year, all my fillies (favored) hard turf. When you get a storm, they just can't run," Stewart said. "I went (to Europe) specifically looking for horses that would handle these types of conditions, and I think that little extra was the difference maker for her."

The early morning weather forecast certainly brought a smile to Stewart's face as a heavy storm dampened Saratoga's Mellon turf course, which was a change in venue from the originally scheduled inner turf course because of the rain.

Chad Brown. (Eclipse Sportswire)

The 1 1/8-mile distance proved to be right up Excellent Truth's alley following runner-up efforts in her first two American starts including the 1 1/16-mile Grade 1 Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland in April and the one-mile Grade 1 Just a Game Stakes presented by Resolute Racing at Saratoga June 6.

Brown said he had picked those spots to keep her in Grade 1 company even though the distances were not ideal. Both he and Prat also believed she had sat too far back in those races and planned to be more involved Saturday.

"We felt in her last couple races, as Flavien got to know her and I got to know her, she didn't have that electric turn of foot that maybe we thought was under the hood," Brown said. "When we really turned her loose in a race, she took a few strides to get going. A bit more of a strong, steady run she has."

As for She Feels Pretty, she spotted the winner four pounds and received no stain on her reputation with her gutsy runner-up effort. Velazquez said he felt the ground was a bit softer than Lael Stables-owned daughter of Karakontie prefers.

Trainer Cherie DeVaux was proud of She's Feels Pretty's effort in defeat.

"She tried. It's hard when it's a small field like that and there's not a lot of pace," DeVaux said. "The winner was ahead of us the whole time. She ran a great race and very valiant. It's hard to be disappointed in a filly that does that. It was a solid effort and I'm really proud of her."