GII Honorable Miss S.

A well-matched field of eight is set to line up for Wednesday's GII Honorable Miss Stakes at Saratoga. Riding a three-race win streak, Juddmonte's Accede (Into Mischief) posted a last-out neck victory in the seven-furlong GII Bed 'O Roses at the Big A June 15. Trained by Chad Brown, the homebred previously recorded a pair of wins at Keeneland at the oval's Fall and Spring meets, including a 1 3/4-length score going six panels against optional claiming company in her seasonal return Apr. 24. "We'll plan on keeping her running...

Winchell Thoroughbreds and L and N Racing's Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) has won three Grade Is and earned an Eclipse Award, but in Wednesday's GII Honorable Miss H. the 4-year-old filly added to her resume when she posted a Beyer Speed Figure of 112--the fastest number recorded by any horse going six furlongs this year. "I'm extremely proud of her race. That obviously was an impressive race and that would put a [big] number on it," Asmussen said. "I'm very happy with how she came out of the race yesterday....

Getting down to business early, the champion 2-year-old filly from 2021 and 'TDN Rising Star' Echo Zulu, added the second graded stakes victory of her 4-year-old campaign with a geared-down win in the GII Honorable Miss H. Wednesday afternoon at Saratoga Race Course. Breaking from the inside post position, the 2-5 favorite rushed out to the early lead and was shadowed by Frank's Rockette through a quarter in :22.02 and a half in :44.45. Echo Zulu waved good bye to that foe at the top of the lane, striding clear...

The GII Honorable Miss H. at Saratoga is named after the highly-successful multiple stakes-winning mare from the 1970s. Owned by Edith Bancroft's sons who carried on the family tradition established by their grandfather, William Woodward Sr., the pair founded Pen-Y-Bryn Farm after their own mother's passing. With only four entered, this year's edition is highlighted by the Saratoga return of '21 champion 2-year-old filly and MGISW Echo Zulu (Gun Runner). The Steve Asmussen trainee won her juvenile debut at the Spa when she soared to become a 'TDN Rising Star'...

She's the one, all right. The one and only, in fact--at least up until now. Who knows? Perhaps Neil Pessin's exemplary achievements with Bell's the One (Majesticperfection) might yet reward him with another Grade I winner or two. But after a lifetime in the game, and 36 years since saddling his first winner, he's neither expecting nor even desiring to transform the intimate scale of his operation. "You know, I don't get jealous of anybody," Pessin says. "I'm very happy with where I'm at. I've been successful with the numbers...

Trainer Wesley Ward said he will skip Wednesday's GII Honorable Miss S. with Ten Broeck Farm's Kimari (Munnings). The 4-year-old has not run since capturing the GI Madison at Keeneland Apr. 3. According to Ward, the filly wasn't showing the energy she previously had shown during morning training. "She's doing well, just not quite as good as she was previously, so I thought we should err on the side of caution," Ward explained. "We did some X-rays and according to Dr. [Luis] Castro, she was perfect. But visually, she wasn't...