How to bet the 2024 Honeymoon Stakes

Seven sophomore fillies will travel 1 1/8 miles on the Santa Anita lawn in Saturday’s $100,000 Honeymoon S. (G3). The second and third-place finishers of the recent Providencia S. (G3) lead the way in the affair, and I think that the race will come down to the duo in the final stages. 

Honeymoon Wagers

• $20 exacta box 5-7 ($40)
• $3 trifecta 5,7 with 2,5,7 with 2,5,7 ($12) 

The Phil D’Amato-trained #5 Circle of Trust was a closing third in the aforementioned contest and could go better in this one with slight improvement. The daughter of Union Rags was a nice maiden winner on the surface two back and followed that up with a nice try in her latest endeavor for the top turf barn on the grounds. She has some versatility in her running style, and in a race with a decent amount of pace signed on, I expect her to make a big late run in the lane and outfinish her foes late with Antonio Fresu in the silks. 

#7 Shiloh’s Mistress gave a fine account of herself while making an initial try on the weeds in the Providencia most recently. Trained by Mike McCarthy, the sophomore daughter of Vino Rosso led to the turn for home, was passed in the lane, and came back gamely in the latter stages to fall a nose short under the wire. The $235,000 yearling purchase has some class to her, and if she improves while making her second try on the grass, then the bay will be a menacing figure throughout the affair. She went to the front last time out when drawing the rail, but I envision the Kentucky-bred rating in the second flight early and kicking for home with the red-hot Umberto Rispoli in the irons. 

The only other starter in the field that gives me any cause for concern is #2 Sakura Blossom for trainer Leonard Powell. By Classic Empire, the stakes heroine was a solid third on the green at Del Mar in her juvenile finale the last time she raced on the weeds, and she exits a swiftly run dirt allowance in her latest assignment. I don’t expect the filly to win the race, but she is worth dabbling with in some exotics under fine turf pilot Hector Berrios.