Ours to Run brings Jones back to Spa for Honorable Miss

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Larry Jones has won six graded stakes at Saratoga in his career, but he has not started a horse here in three years. That drought will come to an end Wednesday when Jones sends out the streaking Louisiana-bred Ours to Run in the Grade 2, $200,000 Honorable Miss Handicap.

Ours to Run, a winner of 12 of 20 career starts, is making her graded stakes debut in this six-furlong stakes that serves as a stepping-stone to the Grade 1 Ballerina here Aug. 24. Ours to Run has won six consecutive races, five of which were restricted to Louisiana-breds. Her one win against open company came in the Carousel Stakes at Oaklawn Park in April, a race in which she defeated Mia Mischief, who has since come back to win two stakes – including the Grade 1 Humana Distaff – and who is the likely Honorable Miss favorite.

Ours to Run hasn’t run since May 25. Jones was thinking of giving the 5-year-old mare the summer off because he doesn’t think she handles the heat too well. But her workouts at Ellis Park convinced Jones to run.

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“She just has such a high confidence level about her right now,” Jones said. “She has really mellowed out. She thinks she’s supposed to be the best, and we just let her keep thinking it. If we’re ever going to get a graded placing on her, now might be the time with it being Saratoga and hopefully being a little cooler.”

Ours to Run will break from the outside post in the six-horse field under John Velazquez. Velazquez is only 1 for 4 riding for Jones, the win coming in the Grade 1 Carter on Kodiak Kowboy at Aqueduct in 2009.

Mia Mischief, second in last year’s Grade 1 Test here, is coming off back-to-back victories in the Grade 1 Humana Distaff and Roxelana.

“She’s handling more training, that’s why we’re seeing more consistent performances from her at a very high level,” trainer Steve Asmussen said.

Chalon, beaten a head in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, won the Skipat Stakes at Pimlico to begin her 5-year-old season. Most recently, Chalon finished second to Separationofpowers in the Grade 3 Bed o’ Roses where she got away poorly and was out of position early.

“That wasn’t really her running style, to be at the back like that, and she had to come wide and made a good move,” trainer Arnaud Delacour said. “I was pretty happy with the race. Seven-eighths is probably not her best distance, so I’m pretty happy going back to six furlongs Wednesday, and the filly’s been doing great leading to the race.”

Javier Castellano rides Chalon from post 2.

Pacific Gale also cuts back to six furlongs, the distance of her last win, a second-level allowance last October at Belmont. Since then, Pacific Gale has three seconds and a third in six graded stakes tries.

Honey Bunny, winner of the Grade 3 Winning Colors at Churchill two back, and Minit to Stardom, twice second to Ours to Run in Louisiana-bred stakes, complete the field.