The Hopeful (Grade 1)- $300.00 Purse
SAR- For Two Year Olds
Seven Furlongs on the Dirt
September 6, 2026

The Hopeful is a race that I strongly anticipate at the real Saratoga meet every year, but in the virtual racing world, it is a must watch. Just looking at the list of past winners is very impressive with most going to do some very impressive things both in their three year old season and beyond. A field of twelve will be heading to the starting gate this year, and somewhere you can be sure that we have an Extreme Jet and a Hurts here that we will be talking about with a lot of excitement as three year olds. They won’t all make it big, but the unknown of who the real future stars are in this field are why the race is particularly a can’t miss event within our game. It was indeed Hurts that got the win here last year, doing so for Royalty Stables, and he was just here last week for the Travers. Let’s check out this year’s batch of promising two year olds now!

1- Huldrekall (Delta Farms, ridden by E Esquivel)- Has done everything right so far, winning each of his two starts, with the maiden coming at PRX before winning an allowance here in the slop in late July. The gelding by Beast works very well, and gets his first chance to show what he can do against stake competition.

2- Luminary (Mb Stables, ridden by R Santana Jr)- Mb Stables thinks very highly of this one, as it Luminary is his only entry here. He’s gotten his chances and turned in mixed results up to this far when running at this level. In June, he was third in the $225.00 Bashford Manor, but failed to step up in the Grade 2 SAR Special here with a poor showing.

3- Litmus Test (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by J Lezcano)- What stood out immediately on this one to me was his impressive work here at six furlongs about a week and a half ago, which is the quickest at the distance that any of these have done recently. Litmus Test has won twice, but neither have come at a high level track. Perhaps it is time for that to change.

4- Luka Mafia (Night Rider Stables, ridden by L Saez)- We know that the trainer believes strongly in this one, and so far Luka Mafia has done a good job showing everyone his promise. He’d win his first two races, including the $125.00 Royal Palm Juvenile, which I will say is more of an allowance due to how early it appears on a schedule. I find his fourth place run last time out in the Grade 2 SAR Special far more appealing, and he’s working well in anticipation.

5- Salt Of The Earth (YME Stable, ridden by J R Velazquez)- Salt Of The Earth looks to become the second horse in a row that is sired by Hide And Seek to win the Hopeful. He won’t be a name that stands out in this field, since he comes here off a maiden win, but always seems to run well. That win was in the slop, apparently in a two year old race that split on July 31st here, with the other won by Huldrekall. Now, those two must go head to head.

6- Exterminate (Williams9, ridden by V Espinoza)- In his fourth start, Exterminate was able to pick up his maiden win, coming against fellow CA-breds at DMR. That would be his last race for Riggins Racing, who sold him to Williams9 for $25.00 two weeks ago. The works aren’t quite as good as most others in this field, but close enough to where a break or two can mean all the difference.

7- The Pilchard Freak (The Sidley Stud, ridden by P Lopez)- We’ve reached that time now where the Spankersville foals are hitting the track and looking to pick up big wins. The Pilchard Freak has become the first of likely many to do so, with two wins over four starts. After breaking his maiden at AQU, the colt ran here in the Grade 3 Sanford and was second best. A month later, he went west for the Grade 3 Best Pal Stakes at DMR and got the win. Now, it’s back across the country, and is very appealing here.

8- Dragon Slayer (Winning Link Stables, ridden by B Curtis)- This one has run four times thus far, and has managed one win, coming in early May at CD. Off of that win, he was promptly entered into ungraded stakes, and has not earned anything in the two tries he has had in them. He was beaten a combined six lengths, so they’re not close calls, leading to the trainer hoping a geld will be a wake up call. Will it be? We shall see.

9- Boomer (Serenity Stables, ridden by T Gaffalione)- After failing to break his maiden in a conventional manner, Boomer made a trip to BTP for the $75.00 Hoover Stakes and knocked off a field of twelve for the win. That came six weeks ago, and his works are continuing to be strong every time out. May still have something to prove, especially when in this good of a field.

10- Umoja (London Racing, ridden by F Prat)- Off to a strong start in his career, with two wins in his first three starts, and just missing being a perfect 3-for-3. After breaking his maiden at CT, Umoja backed that up with a two length win in a MTH allowance, setting himself up to run in the $250.00 ELP Juvenile. That went well as he came from behind to beat all but one. His works are excellent.

11- Columbo (John Henry, ridden by S X Bridgmohan)- Picked up a win his debut in those always fun two furlong races at TAM, especially of the higher purse FL-bred variety. Unfortunately, while he was not able to follow that up well in the Victoria Stakes at WO, he showed he can handle a longer race just fine, cruising to win the $100.00 In Summation, for FL-breds, at GP last month. Now, it’s time to show it against unrestricted company.

12- Bronze Wolf (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by R M Hernandez)- Another strong entry here on the outer part of the starting gate. The Neon Wolf colt was here last month for the Grade 2 SAR Special and came from off the pace to finish the second. Earlier in the year, he did the same thing in the $250.00 KY Juvenile, so definitely be looking out for him to take that approach again. Or, maybe the trainer will surprise us. Either way, I expect to see Bronze Wolf near the front at the end of this.

Prediction: 7-12-10-4

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES