The racing week in Saratoga Springs concludes later today with a ten-race card where older female sprinters take center stage in the Honorable Miss (G2). The six-furlong affair over the main track goes as Race 8 and makes up the center leg of the late Pick 5. It's also the final day of the Trifecta-Thon promotion from 1/ST BET and Xpressbet. Here are a couple spot plays I like most later this afternoon in New York, as well as my thoughts on the feature.


Race 1:
The Sunday slate kicks off with this MSW event for 2YOs over the Inner Turf where eight first-time starters are entered in the main body of the field. This includes some runners for some of the country’s most highly regarded barns, but I will try to beat them with #1 Kipros. The son of Oscar Performance is out a Thunder Gulch mare that won 6 of 16 in her career, including her first two starts over the Santa Anita sod. She was versatile and relished two-turns, while almost all of her foals’ successes have come over the grass. That is exactly what Kipros gets along with a favorable inside draw to kick off her career for trainer Ray Handal. Handal does not excel with debut runners, but deserved better a summer ago with a talented 2YO turf colt in Heeere’s Johnny. Hopefully, he gets some revenge with this $150k Keeneland September ’25 purchase.

Play: #1 Kipros (8-1 ML)
Picks: 1-3-6


Race 8: Honorable Miss (G2)
There is plenty of early speed signed on in this year’s Honorable Miss given the presence of #1 Maida, #3 Striker Has Dial, and odds-on favorite #6 Grand Job. Grand Job comes in off of two brutal nose losses in graded stakes races, including during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival where she lost by a nose 3-5-favorite Ways and Means. The Justify mare clearly has issues that do not allow her run often, but when she competes in the afternoon’s she means business. The outside draw should allow Junior Alvarado to stalk just off the two inside leaders and take control when they turn for home. The bigger question is who picks up the pieces? #4 Haulin Ice will likely to take the most action underneath Grand Job in the exacta pool, but I am going to try to get a bomb into the number instead. #5 Going Steady ships in from Kentucky for trainer Robbie Medina. The Constitution filly comes into New York in the best form of her career having won a first-level allowance in Louisville five weeks ago. She is almost certain to be outrun early, but her running style gives her a big chance to pass a number of tiring rivals late. Hopefully, it is good enough for second or third.

Play: Exacta 6-5, Trifecta 6 with 2+3+4 with 5
Picks: 6-5-3


Race 9:
My final play of the week comes in this $130k allowance at 6.5-furlongs over the main track where Qatar Racing’s #4 Senior Officer is likely to be a significant favorite. The son of Into Mischief is lightly-raced, but has never been worse than second. The Brad Cox conditioned gelding won his first start over this surface last month when nailing longshot Contrary Thinking at the wire. He is a solid favorite, but not unbeatable, so I will take a small swing against with #5 Sacrosanct. The Linda Rice trainee makes his second start of the form cycle after a runner-up finish in a state-bred turf race in late June at Aqueduct. Rice sports extremely strong numbers over the years when making the move from grass-to-dirt and this guy’s effort two-back over the main track was a strong one. Manny Franco has been riding well this summer thus far and retains the mount on the former Cox runner.

Play: #5 Sacrosanct (6-1 ML)
Picks: 5-4-8