Hot Peppers Spices Up Prioress

Trainer Rudy Rodriguez will hope to see the talented Hot Peppers  pick up her second graded score in the Sept. 2 $250,000 Prioress Stakes (G2) for 3-year-old fillies sprinting six furlongs on the main track at Saratoga Race Course.

Owned by Michael Dubb and Michael Caruso, Hot Peppers enters from a game runner-up effort in the Aug. 6 Longines Test Stakes (G1) at the Spa where she was defeated 1 1/2 lengths by 17-1 upset winner Chi Town Lady  in her grade 1 debut. There was a brief steward's inquiry into the stretch run of the Test after Hot Peppers drifted and brushed with the Wesley Ward-trained Chi Town Lady and third-place finisher Matareya .

"She ran a great race," said Rodriguez. "The horse for Wesley Ward looked like she was going to win either way. There was an inquiry, but everything was clear and we'll keep fighting another day. The value as a broodmare went higher for sure with a grade 1 placing."

A daughter of Khozan  , Hot Peppers earned her best victory two starts back with a gutsy three-quarter-length effort over returning rival Half Is Enough  in the July 9 Victory Ride Stakes (G3) at Belmont Park, scoring her first graded win on the heels of a win in the Jersey Girl Stakes at the same oval in her first start with Rodriguez. She began her career with three wins from five starts for former owner/trainer Ronald Spatz, with all three victories coming at Gulfstream Park.

"Every stakes race is tough. She's still got to show up," Rodriguez said. "But at least she doesn't look like she needs a track. She's won at Gulfstream and Belmont and (ran well) at Saratoga. That's a plus when you see horses bring their form to the next track. She's not that big, but she's got a lot of heart."

Hot Peppers will be ridden by regular pilot Luis Saez from post 2.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen and owner Winchell Thoroughbreds will look to continue their graded stakes success at the Spa with Wicked Halo , who streaks into the Prioress off two solid stakes wins at Churchill Downs in the Leslie's Lady Overnight and Tepin, winning by a combined 7 1/2 lengths.

A daughter of Gun Runner  , Wicked Halo already boasts a graded win at Saratoga after taking last year's Adirondack Stakes (G2) sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs.

Tyler Gaffalione, aboard for both stakes wins at Churchill, has the call from post 1.

Paradise Farms and David Staudacher's Lady Scarlet  is in search of her second graded win this year, hoping to add to a late-running 3 3/4-length victory in the Miss Preakness Stakes (G3) on the George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan (G2) undercard at Pimlico Race Course.

Trained by Mike Maker, the Union Rags   filly returns to the dirt in Friday's race after an unsuccessful bid on the turf in the Coronation Cup Stakes at the Spa July 15. After being bumped on different occasions during the stretch run, she finished an even sixth.

Lady Scarlet will exit post 3 in rein to Jose Ortiz.

Entries: Prioress S. (G2)

Saratoga Race Course, Friday, September 02, 2022, Race 9

• Grade II
• 6f
• Dirt
• $250,000
• 3 yo Fillies
• 5:39 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Wicked Halo (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	122	Steven M. Asmussen	5/1
2	2Hot Peppers (FL)	Luis Saez	122	Rudy R. Rodriguez	7/2
3	3Lady Scarlet (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	122	Michael J. Maker	12/1
4	4Mischievous Diane (KY)	Manuel Franco	118	Raymond Handal	12/1
5	5Bank On Anna (NY)	Jose Lezcano	120	Philip M. Serpe	10/1
6	6Angitude (KY)	Joel Rosario	118	Brad H. Cox	4/1
7	7Sterling Silver (NY)	Trevor McCarthy	120	Thomas Albertrani	20/1
8	8Half Is Enough (KY)	Flavien Prat	120	Michael J. Trombetta	10/1
9	9Smash Ticket (KY)	Kendrick Carmouche	120	Rob Atras	4/1
10	10Union Lake (KY)	John R. Velazquez	118	John P. Terranova, II	8/1