Grand Job can put bad beats behind her in Honorable Miss
:quality(75))
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Bill Mott has been around long enough to have experienced pretty much everything Thoroughbred racing can throw at someone. But the back-to-back nose defeats suffered by Grand Job in her last two starts stick out as among the most difficult losses he has endured.
Grand Job lost a nose decision to Eclatant in the Grade 1 Madison at Keeneland on April 4 and then somehow was caught on the wire by Ways and Means in the Grade 2 Bed o’ Roses here on June 4.
“They were difficult beats, they were painful. It really hurt, both of them, because she ran so good,” Mott said. “As hard as she ran, she deserved to win, but she ran into somebody better by two inches.”
Grand Job, a 5-year-old daughter of Justify, returns to the races Sunday in the Grade 2, $250,000 Honorable Miss Stakes at Saratoga, where she will be heavily favored to erase the memory of those painful defeats while setting herself up for another Grade 1 opportunity in the Ballerina in late August.
Grand Job has four wins and three seconds in seven starts since coming to Mott in 2024. Her wins have come at seven furlongs and one mile. Her one bad race came in her only try at six furlongs – the distance of the Honorable Miss – where she got embroiled in a hot pace and finished last in a third-level allowance at Churchill Downs in November 2025. There is a ton of early speed signed up in the Honorable Miss, but Grand Job’s post 6 draw should be a comfort for trainer and horse.
“For me it is and I think for her it is,” Mott said. “There’s a lot of speed, you can’t rush them off their feet.”
Junior Alvarado has the call.
One of the early speed types is Maida, who comes into this race off a monster 10 1/2-length victory at Laurel Park in the Alma North Stakes, which came following an eight-month layoff. Maida’s only bad race came when she shipped to Keeneland for last October’s Grade 2 Raven Run, where a poor start led to her finishing sixth, 7 1/4 lengths behind fellow Honorable Miss entrant Kappa Kappa.
“The question with this filly is, can she take her show on the road?” trainer Brittany Russell said from Maryland. “Keeneland, we kind of put a line through it. She didn’t get away great, maybe it wasn’t a terrible race, but we were disappointed afterwards. To be fair, she wasn’t quite right. That’s why she got some time.”
Russell said Maida is a bit quirky to train and she didn’t finalize plans to run in the Honorable Miss until after she watched her train on Friday at Laurel.
“She’s drawn the rail and I don’t really feel like that helps,” Russell said. “There comes a point where we have to test her. It makes sense to do it as long as she ships up there in good order.”
Sheldon Russell rides Maida.
Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. kept Grade 1 winner R Disaster out of the Honorable Miss because she missed a work, but he is going with Haulin Ice, who finished third as the 1-2 favorite in the Rehoboth Stakes at Delaware Park on May 30.
Striker Has Dial came off an eight-month layoff to win the Skipat Stakes at Laurel on Preakness Day. Her speed has been they key to her success, though she has won from a stalking position.
Trainer Horacio De Paz remarked a few weeks ago about how well Striker Has Dial runs fresh. She will have 10 weeks in between starts leading up to the Honorable Miss.
Kappa Kappa, who was 27-1 when she upset the Raven Run, comes off an allowance win at Parx for trainer Butch Reid.
Going Steady may be the best true closer in the field, though her speed figures are light. Trainer Robbie Medina confirmed she will run here rather than Saturday’s Love Sign Stakes at Colonial Downs. Do Gooder completes the field.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.