How to bet the Anchorage Stakes

A well-matched field of 10 fillies and mares will run 1 1/8 miles over the turf at Churchill Downs on Saturday in the $275,000 Anchorage S. #1 Warming (6-1) was far from my favorite horse in training prior to her latest effort, but the Graham Motion trainee really caught my eye with a stylish score in the Gallorette (G3) at Laurel Park on Preakness Day, and I’ll give her a big chance to make it two in a row.

Anchorage Wagers

• $8 win and place #1 Warming ($16)
• $6 exacta box 1-9 ($12)
• 50-cent trifecta 1 with 3,8,9 with all ($12)
• 10-cent superfecta 1,9 with 1,3,8,9 with 1,3,8,9 with all ($8.40)

The Global Campaign four-year-old broke through with her initial graded victory at Santa Anita in October but was winless in a trio of runs after that coup prior to her run in Maryland on May 16. In that affair, the filly displayed a fine turn of foot to topple a decent cast, and she comes into her local debut with a pair of morning works in the interim. The Kentucky-bred will save ground early and make one run late under John Velazquez. 

Trainer Joe Sharp has two in the field, including #9 Vive Veuve (5-2). The five-year-old daughter of Collected is capable of big things when she is at her best, as she displayed last summer with a trio of fine runs in succession. The Collected mare showed her versatility in her 2026 unveiling when driving home to a nice score in the off-the-turf Ouija Board S. at Lone Star Park, and I feel that she likely got a lot of fitness out of the dirt contest. She owns a win and a second from three career runs at this venue, and the stalker will get first run turning for home on her deeper closing foes with Irad signed on. 

The hard-trying #3 Way to Be Marie (8-1) cuts back in distance after running 12 furlongs in each of her last two assignments prior to Saturday for Eddie Kenneally, and I expect the $750,000 January purchase to thrive with less ground in this particular spot. The Not This Time five-year-old is a very honest mare who is a nice fit in the cast, and she will be strong late with less ground to work with in the contest, which will aid her late burst. Regular pilot Luis Saez retains the mount. 

#8 Pin Up Betty (7-2) might not be the same runner as she was in 2025, but in her defense, the Mike Maker trainee has faced off with some really tough competition at the graded level in all three runs this campaign and can’t be dismissed from the exotics. The four-time local heroine has earned three of her four career wins at the nine-furlong distance and will have Prat in the irons.