Longshot Halina's Forte Comes On Late in Honorable Miss

Two races is a small sample size, but whenever Halina's Forte  runs at Saratoga Race Course it has meant something good for trainer Phil Bauer. 

Nearly a year ago, the daughter of Mitole   earned the conditioner his first black-type win at the upstate New York track. Fast forward to the present day, and the filly notched another milestone for Bauer.

Despite 24-1 odds, the second longest of the field, Halina's Forte overcame the lack of favoritism and a sloppy/good track to win the six-furlong $200,000 Honorable Miss (G2) July 20 at the Spa. The win gave Bauer his first graded triumph in Saratoga.

"This is the pinnacle," Bauer told Fox Sports. "It's pretty special; you dream about stuff like this. When you make the entries, you just hope everything goes your way."

And much like when she won the 2024 Galway Stakes, jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. took her across the wire after riding along the rail after catching the early front runner.

R Disaster  displayed her speed early on and claimed her spot on the inside where she stayed until approaching the top of the stretch where jockey Jose Ortiz positioned her in the two lane. 

That gave Halina's Forte more room to work with than in the Galway, where she needed to squeeze past along the rail in the final sixteenth. 

"It was a little bit of pressure around the turn, I had like two horses outside of me, and I was waiting, but they kind of made me go forward a little, so that was the key right there," Jose Ortiz said.

There was no need for Halina's Forte to squeeze as she had plenty of space and caught R Disaster just inside of a furlong to go and took control for the half-length win in 1:09.87.

"Seemed to be a carbon copy of last year except she didn't have to squeeze through," Bauer said. "Just a neat filly. We thought she'd break sharp and just didn't have the pace to go. It worked out perfect. We thought (stablemate) Little Prankster might have shown a little more pace and heated things up for us but it just wasn't her day. When (the field) turned for home and she cut the corner, we were rooting her home. Glad she was able to get up."

R Disaster posted fractions of :21.72, :44.50, and :56.82.

Heavily favored Scylla  (6-5) made a late push at the top of the stretch but quickly faded and finished third. Jody's Pride  was fourth. 

A $2 win ticket paid $50.

Bred by Bill and Corinne Heilegbrodt and Andrew and Barbara Vanlangendonck in Florida, the filly is owned by Rigney Racing. She first entered the sales ring at the 2022 Ocala Breeders' Winter Mixed Sale, selling to Woodford Thoroughbreds for $130,000 out of the Summerfield consignment. Later that year, Halina's Forte was sold by Woodford for $250,000 to Chenowith Run Stables at the Fasig-Tipton July Select Yearling Sale. 

The filly is 1-1-0 from two starts this year and 6-3-2 with $526,450 in earnings for her career.

Video: Honorable Miss S. (G2)