Next to Travers Day, no summer card at Saratoga means more than Saturday’s Whitney Day program. Four Grade 1 stakes and a Grade 2 share a jammed playbill for all ages. The 2-year-olds are featured in the Saratoga Special, the 3-year-olds in the Test and Saratoga Derby Invitational and the older runners in the Whitney and Fourstardave.

Horseplayers with 1/ST BET and Xpressbet be sure to take part in Saturday’s $5,000 Hit & Split promotion across the late pick 4 ($2,500) and late pick 5 ($2,500) sequences.

Let’s meet the contenders for the turf milers who will clash in the Fourstardave (Race 8):

#1-CUGINO: Saratoga debut and first Grade 1 attempt for a colt coming off of back-to-back wins, including Gulfstream’s Tropical Park Derby. Just the second start of 2025 while reuniting with jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., the meet’s leading rider who has a Spa-best 4 stakes wins this season and is 2-for-2 aboard this son of Twirling Candy. Trainer Shug McGaughey won this race in 1993 with his eventual Hall of Famer Lure.

#2-MY BOY PRINCE: Versatile Grade 1 Jaipur runner-up sprinting over this turf course and also runner-up in Woodbine’s mile and one-quarter King’s Plate on synthetic. Cairo Prince colt has failed to score at a mile on turf in 4 prior tries, but was third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf over that trip in 2023. Trainer Mark Casse has won the Fourstardave 3 times (2017, 2019, 2021).

#3-JOHANNES: Breeders’ Cup Mile runner-up won 5 of 6 races last year and has captured 8 of his last 10 since transferring to turf at the end of 2022. Trainer Tim Yakteen brings the Nyquist 5-year-old east for his first start of 2025. The Grade 1 winner of Santa Anita’s Shoemaker Mile was a troubled fifth in the 2023 American Turf at Churchill Downs in his only previous venture outside California. Umberto Rispoli is back in the saddle.

#4-THINK BIG: Ace turf sprinter stretched out successfully to a mile in the Grade 3 Kelso over the Spa lawn on July 5 and looks for a repeat. Jockey Luis Saez is a 4-time winner of this race (2015, 2020, 2022, 2023) and takes over for Jose Ortiz, who opts to ride My Boy Prince on Saturday. This Mike Stidham trainee, like rival Cugino, is a son of Twirling Candy. The Godolphin blue won last Saturday’s Jim Dandy with Sovereignty and looks for more 2025 summer hardware at Saratoga.

#5-WIN FOR THE MONEY: Grade 1 Woodbine Mile winner last year seeks his first win of 2025 while making his third start on the season. Chased Fourstardave rivals Spirit of St Louis and Think Big in the Pegasus World Cup Turf and Kelso in recent starts, the latter his only prior try on the Saratoga lawn. Trainer Mark Casse has won the Fourstardave 3 times (2017, 2019, 2021). Dylan Davis retains the mount.

#6-INTELLECT: French export is 0-for-3 stateside and was runner-up as the favorite in Saratoga’s Grade 3 Poker and Graded 3 Kelso already this year during the Belmont Stakes and July 4 festivals. Ran exclusively around 1 turn in France, winning 3 of 9 at home. Chad Brown won his first Fourstardave last year with Carl Spackler and has this one’s regular US pilot Flavien Prat back in the saddle.

#7-SPIRIT OF ST LOUIS: One of the most successful New York-breds on turf, this 11-time winner has bagged more than $1.8 million including this year’s Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf at Gulfstream (pictured) and Turf Classic at Churchill Downs. Cuts back from nothing but 9-furlong races this year, but is a multiple stakes winner in turf miles at lower levels. Chad Brown won his first Fourstardave last year with Carl Spackler. Manny Franco won this race in 2017 aboard World Approval. Regular rider Manny Franco has the call.

#8-DETERMINISTIC: Wire-to-wire winner of the Grade 2 Fort Marcy at Aqueduct and Saratoga’s Grade 1 Manhattan in his last 2 starts. His local ledger includes a third in last summer’s Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational. Trainer Miguel Clement comes into the week with 3 stakes wins at the current meet, tied for most with Chad Brown. Kendrick Carmouche has piloted him to his last 2 wins and looks to remain perfect in tandem while cutting back in distance.

#9-LAGYNOS: Grade 3 Commonwealth Turf winner at Churchill Downs last fall has come up just short in all 4 starts this season. Placings in the Opening Verse, Grade 3 Arlington and Grade 2 Wise Dan have come by a combined margin of just 2 lengths. Jockey Joel Rosario has won the Fourstardave twice (2014, 2016) and replaces regular rider Flavien Prat, who jumps to ride Intellect on Saturday. Steve Asmussen trained Cogburn to Saratoga summer turf stakes wins in 2023 and 2024.

#10-NEAT: Last summer’s Grade 2 Hall of Fame Stakes winner at the Spa returns to the scene of his biggest score. Looks to snap a 6-race losing streak, which includes a rallying fourth in the Grade 3 Kelso locally behind a trio of Fourstardave re-matched rivals. Rob Atras trains, while jockey Junior Alvarado is riding the high of last Saturday’s Jim Dandy Stakes victory aboard Sovereignty.