Seeking the Soul is the 3-5 morning-line favorite for the $100,000 Michael G. Schaefer Stakes on Saturday night at Indiana Grand. That fact will cause a shudder among Indiana horseplayers who remember what happened on the Indiana Derby undercard two years ago. There, Seeking the Soul, coming out of the Belmont Stakes, finished second as the 1-2 favorite in a first-level allowance race. It’s not out of the question his backers could feel a similar sting Saturday. Seeking the Soul no doubt hit the highest mark among any of the Schaefer entrants when he won the Grade 1 Clark Handicap last fall. But the Schaefer will be his first start since a distant fifth-place finish Jan. 27 in the Pegasus World Cup, and while Seeking the Soul’s connections, trainer Dallas Stewart and owner-breeder Charles Fipke, surely would like to win Saturday’s race, they also have their eyes on bigger prizes. Stewart said if Seeking the Soul runs well Saturday he could race next in the Grade 1 Woodward at Saratoga. And if all continues in the right direction, well, the Breeders’ Cup Classic this year will be run at Churchill, the site of Seeking the Soul’s brightest moment. Stewart said Seeking the Soul never left his barn following the Pegasus. “We just freshened him up a little bit. He’s had a couple really good works, and this seems like a good spot to get him started again,” he said. Brian Hernandez Jr. has the mount on Seeking the Soul, who breaks from post 2 in this one-mile, 70-yard race. Lookin At Lee would be at least a mildly appealing alternative had his Stephen Foster Handicap not happened. Off a Derby Day allowance-race win in which he stuck surprisingly close to the pace, Lookin At Lee threw a dud in the Foster, never getting within 14 lengths of the leaders. Trainer Steve Asmussen told Indiana Grand publicity he had no ready explanation for the performance and just hoped for better. The upset pick is Pioneer Spirit, whose trainer, Brad Cox, runs an Indiana Grand string. If Siem Riep opts instead for the Warrior Veterans on turf, Pioneer Spirit can control the Schaefer pace while improving in his second start back from a two-month layoff. Bernadette has challengers None of Lovely Bernadette’s four wins last year at age 3, including a score over the Indiana Grand turf course in the $200,000 Indiana Grand Stakes, came as the favorite. But she’s the filly with the target – and Florent Geroux – on her back Saturday in the $100,000 Indiana General Assembly Distaff Stakes. Lovely Bernadette is the 8-5 morning-line favorite in a field of nine after winning the Grade 3 Mint Julep last month. Lovely Bernadette was in too tough the first two starts of this season, was moved into the barn of trainer Bernie Flint before the Mint Julep, and got back on the wining track, coming from ninth to get up by a neck over the decent if unspectacular Celestial Insight. Lovely Bernadette need not fall that far off the pace – but she also need not win Saturday. Lovely Loyree won this race two years ago and is worth using in horizontal and vertical exotic wagers after suffering a seriously compromising trip last out in the Lady Canterbury Stakes, but the pick is Res Ipsa. Res Ipsa returned from a freshening to finish her 2017 campaign with the two best races of her life and started her 2018 season losing by a nose to the very talented filly Lull. She then caught a very wet Churchill course running below form in the Distaff Turf Mile, and she lost most of her chance with early trouble in the Mint Julep. Warrior Veterans wide open There are a lot of ways go to in the $100,000 Warrior Veterans Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile turf race, but not a lot of handicappers are going to land on Cammack. That’s fine. Cammack is listed at 15-1 on the morning line and if Julien Leparoux can work out a trip from a wide draw he can spring an upset. Cammack had been considered for the Grade 3 Arlington Handicap last weekend, but trainer Chris Block backed off when that race came up very tough for $100,000. Cammack fits here on his best, but since he hasn’t shown his best in three races and 10 months, his price goes up. Block said last week that Cammack was training like the same horse who won an overnight Arlington stakes last September with a 98 Beyer Speed Figure that would slot in very competitively with the best of the Warrior Veterans. My Bariley is listed as the 7-2 morning-line favorite, but just ran the best race of his 17-start career last month in the Mystic Lake Mile. Siem Riep and Dot Matrix also are worth including in multi-race wagers. ◗ The stakes sequence starts in race 4 with the $100,000 Marie Hulman George for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on dirt, and the race is tough to parse. Torrent, Promise of Spring, Awestruck, Pinch Hit, and Summer Luck all have a chance, with a slight lean toward Summer Luck despite an outside draw.