SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – As she did last year, War Like Goddess will come to the Grade 2, $250,000 Glens Falls Stakes, Saturday on the Saratoga turf, off a victory in the Grade 3 Bewitch Stakes in April at Keeneland. That wasn’t necessarily Plan A. War Like Goddess was a 1 3/4-length repeat winner of the Bewitch on April 29 – her first start since finishing third, beaten just more than half a length, as the favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 6. That effort had capped a campaign in which she won four graded stakes, including the Glens Falls and Grade 1 Flower Bowl, both at Saratoga, and was an Eclipse Award finalist. :: DRF's Saratoga headquarters – Stakes schedule, previews, recaps, past performances, and more But after winning this year’s Bewitch, War Like Goddess experienced an episode of tying up, painful muscle cramps, one morning at Churchill Downs, and “we had to give her some time,” trainer Bill Mott said. That kept the 5-year-old English Channel mare out of her next target, the Grade 1 New York Stakes on June 10 at Belmont. War Like Goddess got back on the work tab on June 6 at Saratoga, and has now worked a total of eight times, on both the dirt and turf training tracks here. Mott entered her in the $150,000 River Memories at Belmont on July 10, but that race did not fill. Thus, this will be the mare’s first start in 99 days. “I’m not worried about that,” Mott said. “We got some good works in her, she’s ready. As far as fitness goes, I’m not too concerned.” War Like Goddess is unbeaten at the 1 1/2-mile distance of the Glens Falls. She and Joel Rosario, who retains the mount after partnering her in the Bewitch, must defeat six other fillies and mares for the repeat. One of their chief foes is Virginia Joy, trained by Chad Brown, who has won two of the three graded turf stakes for fillies and mares thus far at this meet. Virginia Joy was a Group 3 winner in Germany and is now a multiple graded stakes winner this year in the U.S. after taking time to develop. “I want to thank [owner Peter Brant] for being so patient with her and keeping her in training,” Brown said. “We turned her out for a while. She had trouble keeping weight last year so we finally pulled the plug and turned her out, and she came back a different horse.” :: Visit the Saratoga Handicapping Store for Past Performances, Clocker Reports, Picks, Betting Strategies and more. War Like Goddess has almost exclusively raced on firm turf, with two wins on courses rated good. The early weather forecast for Saratoga Springs had a probability of rain on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Brown has opined that Virginia Joy prefers firm ground, but two starts back, the mare handled a yielding Belmont turf course with aplomb, leading throughout to win the Grade 2 Sheepshead Bay Stakes by 14 1/4 lengths. Temple City Terror is a two-time winner of Keertana at 1 1/2 miles at Churchill Downs. She was most recently seventh in the Grade 3 Robert G. Dick Memorial on soft turf at Delaware. The winner was Key Biscayne, who, along with Virginia Joy, could be key to the pace of this race. Lure Stakes The Glens Falls is joined on the Saratoga turf course Saturday by the $135,000 Lure Stakes. Brown has a pair of Saratoga-loving entrants in Public Sector and Sifting Sands. Public Sector enjoyed a fine campaign in New York last year, winning four of six starts and not finishing worse than second in the state. That included Saratoga wins in the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Stakes and Grade 3 Saranac Stakes. He was a closing third in the Grade 3 Forbidden Apple on July 15 at this meet. Sifting Sands won two races, including the restricted Better Talk Now, last summer at Saratoga Safe Conduct won the 2021 Queen’s Plate and appears to be rounding back into his best form, with a sharp allowance-optional claiming victory in May at Belmont and, most recently, a runner-up effort in the Grade 3 Monmouth Stakes. He is likely to be part of the pace scenario in the Lure, along with New York-bred millionaire Somelikeithotbrown, a graded stakes winner on this course. The latter was most recently third in a salty edition of the Jonathan B. Schuster Memorial Stakes at Horseshoe Indianapolis behind Ivar. –additional reporting by David Grening