Grade I

SAR Meet Comes to a Close with The Hopeful

Every year, the Grade 1 Hopeful is the final stake of the meet at SAR. It concludes what has been a memorable stretch of racing with many great moments taking place. It ends with a promise, or a hope, of greatness in the future. In the gate will be a collection of promising two year olds, some of which might be back at SAR next year to run in races like the Travers.

Maxmillion Farm Celebrates a Stallsome Sword Dancer Win

Stallsome has had a successful career running long on the grass, and is likely in the right barn to continue to do so, but coming off a disappointing race in the Bowling Green, there were not many who believed he would win the Sword Dancer. He was only picked a couple times in the “Pick ‘em”, and went off at 15/1, the second longest shot on the board.

Dead Heat in The Personal Ensign

The obligatory weekend big race dead heat occurred in The Personal Ensign this week, as Drink Me Pretty and Miss Steel Mazula could not be separated after nine furlongs. It was a race that did not have a huge favorite, but Drink Me Pretty was among the top choices with Miss Steel Mazula being a little more of a longshot.

Winchester Foregoes Routes to Win The Forego

Fractious picked up Winchester in private sales in April for $250.000, but the horse had not given him much to be excited about. There was a fourth place run in the MTH Cup, but other than that, Winchester had not stepped up. That would all change in the Forego, as he would run under a mile for the first time since November 2019, and that proved to be the answer to getting him back in the winners circle.