Bell's the One class of the field in Honorable Miss
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Bell’s the One finished a well-beaten seventh in the Grade 1 Acorn at Belmont Park in her only start in New York, which came during the summer of her 3-year-old campaign. Two years later, a much improved Bell’s the One will return to the Empire State as the starting highweight, likely favorite, and horse to beat in Wednesday’s $200,000 Honorable Miss at Saratoga.
Since the one-mile Acorn, Bell’s the One has become one of the leading members of the filly and mare sprint division, having posted victories in the Grade 3 Winning Colors, Grade 2 Raven Run, and last fall in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff at Churchill Downs as a stepping-stone to her third-place finish in the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.
Bell’s the One has started three times in 2021, finishing second in the Grade 1 Madison and a slow-starting fourth in defense of her title in the Derby City Distaff prior to getting back in the win column last month at Churchill Downs in the Roxelana Stakes.
Although the majority of her success lately has come at seven furlongs, Bell’s the One is perfect in four starts at the six-furlong distance of the Grade 2 Honorable Miss.
“She’s had a couple of rough trips this year,” trainer Neil Pessin said. “She couldn’t get outside soon enough and got beat less than a length in the Madison, and she got way back into a slow pace and got stuck inside in the Derby City as well. She’s doing real well coming into this race, and I’m very confident in her. I think she’s one of the top sprint fillies in the country. The main question is that it’s her first start at Saratoga, but if she handles the racetrack and doesn’t have a horrible trip, even giving away the weight, I don’t believe they can beat her if she runs her race.”
Bell’s the One will break from the outside, post 9, while shouldering 123 pounds in the Honorable Miss. She concedes as much as nine pounds to her rivals, with Corey Lanerie to take his regular seat aboard the stretch-running mare Wednesday.
As usual, Pessin is hoping for an honest pace to help set up Bell’s the One’s late kick, and he will likely get it if both Honey I’m Good and Sadie Lady start. Sadie Lady’s status was in question as trainer Rob Atras said he could scratch his speedy filly to await a much softer spot, in the Union Avenue against New York-breds on Aug. 19.
If Sadie Lady does come out, Honey I’m Good would stand some catching in her improved form, having won a pair of stakes in her last four starts, including the Regret on July 3 at Monmouth Park. Both her recent stakes victories came at six furlongs over muddy racetracks.
Other key contenders in the Honorable Miss include the multiple graded stakes-placed Reagan’s Edge, Grade 2 winner Lake Avenue, and steadily improving Don’t Call Me Mary.
Reagan’s Edge returns to the scene of her finest hour, a second-place finish behind odds-on Frank’s Rockette here last summer in the Grade 2 Prioress.
Lake Avenue earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 93 in her last start, when beaten a neck by Estilo Talentoso in the Grade 3 Bed o’ Roses over a sloppy track on June 4 at Belmont Park.
Don’t Call Me Mary, likewise, has never been better, having won her last two starts, both against allowance company, by a combined margin of nine lengths. She will get a class check making her stakes debut in the Honorable Miss.