SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Owner John Stewart’s Resolute Racing is the presenting sponsor of Friday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Just a Game Stakes at Saratoga. There’s a very good chance he could be presenting the trophy to himself. In Excellent Truth and A Lilac Rolla, Stewart has two significant players in this field of 11 fillies and mares scheduled to run a mile over Saratoga’s inner turf course. In her first start in 10 months and first in the U.S., Excellent Truth, trained by Chad Brown, ran a strong second behind Choisya in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland. Choisya came out on Excellent Truth in deep stretch, forcing Flavien Prat to steady and alter course to the inside before rallying to fall a half-length short. After an objection by Prat, there was no change. “I thought she got fouled late in the race and it was disappointing she wasn’t put up,” Brown said. “We just moved on from it.” :: Get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports straight from the morning workouts. In the Jenny Wiley, Excellent Truth and Choisya carried equal weight. Friday, Choisya carries 124 pounds while Excellent Truth is in with 118. A Lilac Rolla, trained by Bill Mott, has not been out since last July when finishing in a dead heat for third behind Porta Fortuna in the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket in July. That was the second of three consecutive Group 1 stakes for Porta Fortuna, who kicked off her 4-year-old campaign with a Group 2 victory last weekend at The Curragh. A Lilac Rolla was with Mott all winter at Payson Park. “She breezes well. She does enough to get ready. We’ve had plenty of time with her,” Mott said. “We probably could have found an easier spot for her, but they didn’t tell me where to run her.” Choisya’s victory in the Jenny Wiley was her third straight win of 2025, as she captured a pair of Group 2 races in Dubai over the winter. In those races, she defeated the likes of Cinderella’s Dream, a multiple graded winner in the U.S. last year, and Romantic Style, who came back to win a listed sprint stakes in Dubai. “She’s been improving all year, through Dubai and then coming over to Keeneland in April,” said Ed Crisford, who co-trains Choisya with his father, Simon. “It was a good field she beat that day [in Jenny Wiley]. She was very tough and game and she ran her career best. She’ll have to improve again.” Ed Crisford said the six-pound weight spread is significant, but the Just a Game was always the plan because Choisya likes the American-style tracks. This was evident in Dubai, where turf courses are similar to the ones in the U.S. :: DRF's Belmont Stakes Headquarters: Contenders, latest news, and more In addition to Excellent Truth, Brown sends out both Dynamic Pricing and Segesta in the Just a Game. Dynamic Pricing is coming off a half-length victory in the Grade 3 Beaugay Stakes at Aqueduct, where she had to come extremely wide in the stretch. “She’s a horse that fell apart late in the year mentally and physically,” Brown said. “I feel that now that she’s fresh and good, maybe I’m best suited to take my swing at the plate while she’s that way.” Segesta, second to Cinderella’s Dream in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks last year, finished fourth behind She Feels Pretty in the Grade 3 Modesty going 1 1/8 miles at Churchill on May 2. Brown said he made an error running Segesta in that spot for her 4-year-old debut, only doing so after an allowance race going shorter was rained off the turf. In the Beaugay, Heredia was beaten one length while finishing third in her first start off an 18-month layoff and her first start for Graham Motion. Special Wan, trained by Brendan Walsh, enters the Just a Game off a solid win in the Grade 3 Honey Fox at Gulfstream on March 1, her first start off a near five-month layoff. Special Wan was scratched from the Grade 3 Distaff Turf Mile at Churchill on May 3 due to a bruised foot. “She’s back and she’s doing well and she’s working very well coming into this,” Walsh said. “Looking forward to running her, and a mile will be perfect.” Simply in Front comes into the Just a Game off a win in the Distaff Turf Mile over Pin Up Betty, who came back to win Sunday’s Grade 3 Mint Julep Stakes. Kehoe Beach had a four-race winning streak snapped when she finished third behind Choisya and Excellent Truth in the Jenny Wiley. Trainer Wesley Ward said he likes the cutback to a mile from 1 1/16 miles. Kehoe Beach has speed, as does Do Gooder, who flashed that speed over the Oklahoma turf course last Friday going five furlongs in 57.40 seconds. Sacred Wish, last year’s Grade 1 Matriarch winner, finished fourth in the Jenny Wiley and seventh in the Distaff Turf Mile. She will have to overcome post 11 on Friday. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.