OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Saddle Up Jessie has been a mare on the go this winter. From Maryland to New York to Kentucky, back to Maryland, and then back to New York. Saddle Up Jessie handled it all with aplomb as she demonstrated on Saturday with a dominant 2 1/2-length victory in the one-mile $150,000 Heavenly Prize Invitational at Aqueduct. Returning to the scene of a hard-luck second in the Ladies Stakes on Jan. 6. Saddle Up Jessie was in control of the Heavenly Prize from the outset, sparring on the lead for the opening half-mile before taking control going into the far turn, and opening up in the stretch under Manny Franco for the visually impressive score. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Movie Moxy, who was up close under Jose Lezcano, outfinished Spiked by a half-length for second. Lady Brew was fourth followed by Cairo Sugar, Into Happiness, Portage, and Pretti Xtreme. Franco, who was aboard Comparative the day that filly beat Saddle Up Jessie in the Ladies, rode Saddle Up Jessie for the first time Saturday. While his plan wasn’t necessarily to be on the lead, he was more than happy to take it given how willingly and easily Saddle Up Jessie was moving. “I break running, trying to make somebody [else] go but at the same time she’s taking me so easy, nobody can get away from me so I said I might have go and be the pace,” Franco said. “I know I was on the best filly in the race so I was comfortable about that. She ran great. Brittany [Russell] brought her ready." Franco was referring to trainer Brittany Russell, who was given the horse after owner Mike Ryan claimed the filly back for $20,000 in January 2023 in California. In June, at Delaware Park, Saddle Up Jessie won a $32,000 maiden-claiming race at Delaware Park by 17 1/2 lengths. By December, she was a stakes winner having taken the Carousel at Laurel by 4 3/4 lengths. Two weeks after that, Saddle Up Jessie suffered a narrow defeat in the Ladies. She was shipped to Kentucky where she went through the Horses of Racing Age sale in January at Keeneland, but failed to reach her reserve. Ryan decided to keep her in training and sent her back to Russell in Maryland. “When she came back from the sale, she slept for like an entire day and then we took it easy on her,” said Emma Wolfe, the assistant to Russell who saddled the mare. “But when we brought her back to work, she was at the top of her game. She just like what she does.” Saddle Up Jessie, a daughter of More Than Ready, covered the mile in 1:38.23 and returned $4.10 as the even money favorite. Saddle Up Jessie has now won five races from 14 starts and is a two-time stakes winner. Plans for Saddle Up Jessie are to be determined. Due to a quarantine of a barn at Belmont Park because a confirmed case of Equine Herpesvirus diagnosed on Feb. 3, Mid-Atlantic tracks and training centers are not accepting horses who raced at Aqueduct during this quarantine period. Saddle Up Jessie will have to take up residence at Belmont through at least Feb. 26. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.