SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Raging Bull got beat by a female last time out. It’s a fate he will try to avoid again when he faces as many as three mares in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Fourstardave Handicap at Saratoga. A multiple Grade 1 winner, Raging Bull was beaten a head by Oleksandra in the Grade 3 Poker on June 20 at Belmont. Saturday, he’ll take on Got Stormy, who beat Raging Bull in the 2019 Fourstardave, Daddy Is a Legend, and maybe Blowout, a stablemate of Raging Bull’s, in a nine-horse field going a mile on the inner turf. The Fourstardave, which tops an 11-race card that includes the Grade 2 Saratoga Special for 2-year-olds, offers a fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup Mile on Nov. 6 at Del Mar. In the Poker, Oleksandra took advantage of a hot early pace and a clear outside run while Raging Bull hesitated some in trying to rally along the inside under Irad Ortiz Jr. Saturday, Raging Bull will break from the rail under Ortiz. :: Visit DRF's Saratoga shop for all your handicapping needs: Past performances, picks, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more “He got held up last time inside of horses,” said Chad Brown, trainer of Raging Bull. “He seems a little better in the clear.” Brown said from Saturday’s rail draw “you can save some ground and hopefully at some point in the race, he can get to his preferred spot outside of horses.” Raging Bull, who finished fifth in last year’s Fourstardave, has become a bit handier this year. In previous years, Raging Bull would be toward the rear of the field and hope for a fast pace to come running. In the Maker’s Mark Mile, Brown instructed Ortiz to get Raging Bull a bit closer early on and it paid off with a two-length victory. “He’s gotten along very well with Irad,” Brown said. “It’s nice to see him get into the race a little bit, get better position.” In recent weeks, Raging Bull has been working in company with Domestic Spending, the clear leader of the older male turf division who is running Saturday in the Mister D. Stakes at Arlington. “He’s training better than ever,” Brown said of Raging Bull. Brown trains Raging Bull for Peter Brant. He also trains the mare Blowout for Brant. Though Blowout has speed, Brown said she is not entered to act as a pacesetter for Raging Bull. Brown said Thursday that further discussions with Brant will determine whether Blowout runs in the Fourstardave. “If she’s in the race, it’s because we think she can win,” Brown said. Got Stormy did win the Fourstardave in 2019, a victory that came a week after she won De La Rose Stakes, also going a mile here. Last year, Got Stormy ran a game second behind loose-on-the-lead winner Halladay. She was sent off at 10-1 that day because she had mediocre-looking form heading into the race. Her form is not dissimilar heading into Saturday. But trainer Mark Casse has seen some better works from Got Stormy and if it doesn’t rain between Thursday and Saturday, she should get the firm ground she prefers. “If the turf is hard then she’ll run well,” Casse said. “She’s coming in off similar form as to what she had coming in last year and she ran a hell of a race in the Fourstardave.” Daddy Is a Legend, the other mare in the field, won the Grade 3 Lake George here in 2018. She is coming off a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Just a Game. A good pace could set things up for Daddy Is a Legend, trained by George Weaver. Casa Creed scratched out of last weekend’s Troy Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs to run in the Fourstardave, a race in which he finished third last year. Trainer Bill Mott said an outside post position was among the reasons he scratched last week. Casa Creed is coming off two stakes wins going seven and six furlongs, respectively. He is 2 for 11 at a mile, including a victory in the Hall of Fame Stakes here in 2019. “I think we were just trying to find a better opportunity,” Mott said. “We could have gone to Canada and run in the Highlander going six furlongs, but he’s effective at a mile as well and seems to be in good order.” Set Piece, with three straight wins including the Grade 2 Wise Dan, is coming into this in good order for Brad Cox. Still, this will be the toughest group he’s faced to date. “He’s going to have run the best race he’s ever run to be there,” Cox said. “He’s in great form with three straight wins at Churchill, but this is a solid group of horses.” Florent Geroux is in from Kentucky for the ride. Field Pass is coming off a neck victory in the Baltimore-Washington International Turf Cup at Pimlico for this meet’s leading trainer, Mike Maker. Whisper Not, in from Southern California for Richard Baltas, looks to have enough speed to be at least an early factor.