SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – When Charge It won the Grade 3 Dwyer Stakes by 23 lengths last summer, there was a belief he could find his way into the mix for divisional honors in the 3-year-old division. It never happened. A foot abscess forced him to miss the Travers Stakes and prompted his connections to shut him down for the remainder of the year. When Charge It won an allowance race at Gulfstream Park to kick off his 4-year-old season, there was a belief it was the start of him becoming a force in the older male dirt division. It hasn’t happened yet. But, coming off a solid victory in last month’s Grade 2 Suburban Stakes at Belmont Park, Charge It will get a chance to demonstrate if it was the start of a turnaround when he runs in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Whitney Stakes at Saratoga. Charge It drew post 2 in a six-horse field and was made the 5-1 third choice in the Whitney, a 1 1/8-mile race in which the streaking Cody’s Wish was made the 1-2 favorite by track linemaker David Aragona. :: Visit the Saratoga Handicapping Store for Past Performances, Clocker Reports, Picks, Betting Strategies, and more. Following his allowance win going 1 1/16 miles at Gulfstream in February, Charge It backed up in distance and finished second to Endorsed in the Gulfstream Park Mile. “He caught Endorsed on Endorsed’s best day,” said Todd Quast, general manager of Mandy Pope’s Whisper Hill Farm, which owns and bred Charge It. Trainer Todd Pletcher added blinkers to Charge It’s equipment for the Oaklawn Handicap, but he didn’t get the desired trip there and he finished fifth behind Proxy. “We’re trying to go fast and for whatever reason he was held and never got a chance to run. He fought him the whole way,” Quast said, referring to jockey Luis Saez. “It didn’t work out. That got a lot of people off of him.” Charge It came back in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap and finished fourth behind Cody’s Wish. Pletcher said that jockey John Velazquez, aboard that day, told him afterward he should have allowed Charge It to get involved sooner. “He had a chance to secure a little more forward position,” Pletcher said. “He kind of opted to be patient. Afterwards, he thought if he had a do-over he would have went ahead and secured a spot closer. Still, that was a super-fast race and he was very competitive in it. He showed he belonged with the top horses in the division and hopefully he’s improved a bit since then.” Charge It showed improvement in the Suburban, sitting off another front-running horse early before taking over after a half-mile and galloping to an easy win. “He came out of the race thriving,” Quast said. “We’re hoping for a much better end of the year than we had the first [part] of the year for sure.” The Whitney, Quast said, “is a chance to re-establish who he is.” Charge It figures to be on the lead or stalking Giant Game, the Cornhusker winner who will break from post 3. Cody’s Wish, meanwhile, will look to add the Whitney to victories this year in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap and Grade 1 Churchill Downs. Overall, Cody’s Wish has won nine of his last 10 starts. Cody’s Wish drew post 6 and trainer Bill Mott was pleased with that. :: Get Saratoga Clocker Reports from Mike Welsch and the Clocker Team. Available every race day.  “He hasn’t been a great horse in the starting gate so it’s probably not a bad thing for him being on the outside,” Mott said. “He doesn’t have to wait around in there long.” The Whitney field, from the rail out, with riders and odds: Zandon (Joel Rosario, 9-2); Charge It (Velazquez, 5-1); Giant Game (Saez, 20-1), Last Samurai (Flavien Prat, 15-1), White Abarrio (Irad Ortiz Jr., 6-1) and Cody’s Wish (Junior Alvarado, 1-2). The Whitney will go as race 10 on a 12-race card that begins at 12:35 p.m. and also includes the Grade 1, $500,000 Test; Grade 1, $600,000 Saratoga Derby; Grade 3, $300,000 Troy; and the $135,000 Lure Stakes. Pretty Mischievous tops Test Kentucky Oaks winner Pretty Mischievous seeks a third consecutive Grade 1 when she heads a field of eight 3-year-old fillies entered in the seven-furlong Test Stakes. Following the Kentucky Oaks, Pretty Mischievous won the Grade 1 Acorn at Belmont. Her competition will include the undefeated Maple Leaf Mel, the freakishly fast Munnys Gold, Acorn runner-up Dorth Vader, Interpolate, Jersey Pearl, and Tappin Josie. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.