How to bet the Honorable Miss Stakes

Bill Mott’s #6 Grand Job (1-2) will lead a field of seven fillies and mares postward in Sunday’s $250,000 Honorable Miss (G2) at Saratoga. By Justify, the five-year-old ran second in three of four career performances overseas on the turf and synthetic prior to making her first run in the states and on the dirt in October of 2024. The Kentucky-bred left quite the impression in her initial main-track effort when waltzing home to a powerful maiden win at Aqueduct, and she followed that up with another powerful and sizable victory in the allowance ranks at Churchill Downs. 

Honorable Miss Wagers

• $20 exacta 6 with 4 ($20)

• $10 exacta 6 with 1 ($10)

• $5 trifecta key 6 with 1,4 ($10)

The fleet mare flashed good potential last season from three runs but has upped her game in 2026, bagging the Inside Information (G2) to kick off the year, which preceded nose setbacks in both the Madison (G1) at Keeneland and the Bed o’ Roses (G2) on this surface. She cuts back in trip after going seven-eighths in a trio of dashes in advance of Sunday and will be a formidable foe while forcing the action throughout the heat beneath Junior Alvarado. 

#4 Haulin Ice (4-1) didn’t handle the grass two back and was a bit less than her best when third at Delaware Park in her latest run, but the Saffie Joseph pupil has plenty of back class and gets the nod to complete the exacta in the dash. The Coal Front five-year-old is a 12-time winner who has been first or second in 17 of her 24 lifetime runs, and the Arkansas-bred mare doesn’t need the lead in order to run well, unlike some of her contenders in this event. The gray comes in fresh with a steady string of recent morning moves, and I like the pairing with savvy pilot Flavien Prat in the stirrups. 

#1 Maida (5-1) is four-for-five since having blinkers added following her unveiling last season and gets the rail for her graded bow. The Brittany Russell pupil ran off to a 10-length romp in the Alma North S. in her latest foray, and the Improbable homebred rates an obvious chance while making her second run off the long absence. The bay drilled a rapid half-mile leading up to her first run on the grounds, and Sheldon Russell comes in to ride.