2026 Spinaway Stakes Preview at Saratoga Race Course

Key Takeaways:

• The Spinaway brings together eight accomplished juvenile fillies, including two Saratoga stakes winners and several impressive maiden winners, making for a deep and competitive Grade 1 field.
• There’s plenty of early speed signed on, which could favor a runner capable of stalking or rallying rather than relying solely on a frontrunning trip.
• Stress Relief could get the right setup as the only graded-stakes winner with proven ability to pass horses, and her 8-1 price makes her an appealing upset play.
• Summer Starlet has already shown she can rally from well back over an extended sprint, and another fast pace could give her the setup she needs despite the less favorable inside draw.
• Life Changing has the outside post and enough early speed to secure a clean trip, while Flavien Prat gives her a strong chance to build on her impressive debut victory.

The feature race of the Saratoga meet for juvenile fillies happens Saturday, September 5, with the Grade 1 Spinaway. The seven-furlong dirt sprint race offers a $300,000 purse – and the winner not only gets the lion’s share, but also a fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland in October.

The race drew a field of eight to compete for these spoils. That includes both winners of the dirt stakes for juvenile fillies this season at Saratoga: Schuylerville winner Harper’s Corner makes her return, as does Adirondack (G3) winner Stress Relief. Their foes include some of the most exciting maiden winners of the summer, though, including the likes of Life Changing, Angel of Kirk, and Summer Starlet.

The history of the Spinaway dates all the way back to 1881 – and the race takes its name from the filly who dominated just the year before. Spinaway won seven stakes races as a two-year-old in 1880, all against the boys. Though she retired at age three, she went on to produce two stakes winners, and was the second dam of 1905 Belmont Stakes winner Tanya.

In its pre-Breeders’ Cup days, some of the best winners of the Spinaway include Hall of Famers Cicada (1961), La Prevoyante (1972), and Ruffian (1974). In the Breeders’ Cup era, five horses have swept the Spinaway and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies: Meadow Star (1990), Flanders (1994), Countess Diana (1997), Vequist (2020), and Immersive (2024).

Spinaway Stakes Information

• Race Date: Saturday, September 5
• Track: Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York
• Post Time: 5:45 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
• Distance: seven furlongs on the dirt
• Age/Sex: two-year-old fillies
• Where to Watch: FanDuel Racing and Fox Business
• Where to Bet: FanDuel Racing

2026 Spinaway Stakes Draw and Odds

This is the field for the 2026 Spinaway Stakes, including post positions, trainers, jockeys, and morning-line odds for each horse.

Spinaway Stakes Prep Race Results

Unlike a lot of juvenile stakes races nowadays, the Spinaway Stakes has no maidens. Though no horse has raced more than twice, every horse in the race has won at least once, and a pair are two-time winners.

Three horses come out of stakes company at the Spa. Stress Relief won the Adirondack (G3) on August 2 in stalk-and-pounce fashion despite being bumped early, while Bandmaster came up flat late and settled for fourth. Harper’s Corner wired the Schuylerville on July 3 and makes her first start since.

Everyone else in the field comes out of a maiden special weight win. Three of those horses come out of debut maiden wins on the dirt at Saratoga. Summer Starlet won at 6 ½ furlongs on August 8, after rallying from near the rear. Angel of Kirk vied early before opening up to win by 4 ¾ lengths in a 5 ½-furlong race July 11. Life Changing led at every call in a six-furlong race August 1.

Two others come out of blowout maiden special weight wins at other tracks. Girvy Girl was prompted a bit on the pace early on debut in a six-furlong dirt sprint at Gulfstream on July 18 before just blowing the field away, crossing the wire 15 lengths clear. Cha Cha Baby graduated second out in a 5 ½-furlong race at Delaware Park on July 21, vying on the pace early before opening up to win by nine lengths.

Spinaway Stakes Contenders

These are the eight entrants in the 2026 Spinaway Stakes, in order of their post positions:

1. Bandmaster: A debut maiden winner in June at Aqueduct, Bandmaster was a 51-1 shot in the Adirondack and ran like it, tracking the pace before weakening to finish fourth behind Stress Relief. Her tactical speed is a good thing because so many horses in this field are only proven on or very close to the early lead. But, her trainer Oscar Barrera and jockey Jose Lescano are both cold this Saratoga meet, and she needs a major step forward from either of her races to prove fast enough to win this race.
2. Summer Starlet: Her debut August 8 at Saratoga was impressive. So many big juvenile maiden winners come from the lead or very close to it, but she came from near the rear and finished with strength to win at first asking, in an effort that makes her one of the fastest horses in the field. The debut victory also came at 6 ½ furlongs, boding well for her ability to handle seven, even at this stage in her career. With a lot of horses who have early speed, she may get a nice setup again, and she is a horse to watch closely.
3. Cha Cha Baby: She won the battle on the pace but lost the war in her five-furlong debut at Delaware, but stretched out to 5 ½ furlongs second out and put them away neatly there on July 21. It was an improved effort from a speed perspective as well, something that suggests she might be fast enough to compete if she can repeat that effort against Saratoga foes. However, there is enough speed in this race to suggest she’ll get embroiled in a pace battle this time, much like she was on debut.
4. Stress Relief: The only graded-stakes winner in the field, she showed an appealing dimension in the Adirondack (G3). Instead of the frontrunning shape she ran in her debut victory at Churchill Downs, she was able to overcome an early bump, track the pace, and take over in the lane. She’ll have to improve in this spot, since it’s a deeper field with horses who have had a little more chance to progress – but she’s had another month to progress, too, and she has the all-important victory at an extended-sprint distance. In short, this daughter of Not This Time has plenty of upside.
5. Girvy Girl: Saffie Joseph shippers tend to be dangerous, and this is the Saffie Joseph shipper. She has only raced once, but she outclassed a bunch of Gulfstream summer horses, jumping out to the early lead and blowing clear by 15 lengths. Now, however, she’ll have better competition. She’ll have a lot of company on the front end, and she’ll have to go a furlong further. The distance isn’t a worry – she’s by Girvin out of a Curlin mare replete with route class in the female family, and it won’t be a shock if Girvy Girl wants even nine or ten furlongs when all is said and done. The question is more, how she handles having to fight it out with Saratoga-qualify competition on the front end, or if she can find a tactical gear.
6. Harper’s Corner: The other stakes winner in the field, this daughter of Speaker’s Corner is obviously precocious – she ran them off their feet on debut at Laurel and then did the same thing in the six-furlong Schuylerville two months ago. However, she’s got a lot of speed to battle against here, including two horses outside of her with a lot of early pace. She’ll be sent – the return of hyper-aggressive jockey Paco Lopez will make sure of that – but she won’t be alone, and she’ll have to both prove that she has progressed and prove that she can get the extra furlong. Her pedigree bodes well for the distance, to be sure…but the draw really isn’t great, and she will have to fire off the bench.
7. Angel of Kirk: She impressed on debut at Saratoga, vying early before opening up and leaving the field behind. It’s a strong effort she can build on, and she’s bred to go longer than the 5 ½ furlongs of her first start. However, she will either need to prove that she’s not one-way speed or she’ll have to battle between horses, as she has several speeds inside of her as well as the zippy Life Changing outside of her. The game of musical jockeys is also a little weird – the drawback is that she loses Flavien Prat to Life Changing, but she gets Manny Franco, who has gotten unbelievably hot these last few weeks.
8. Life Changing: She led at every call on debut, doing so from a near-outside gate. She drew the far outside here, too – not a terrible draw with her running style, as she will be in the driver’s seat outside all that other speed. Like several in here, she hasn’t gone past six furlongs but has a pedigree to go longer – she’s a Life Is Good half to Seize the Grey, meaning anything from the mile to even a classic distance could suit her. The outside post will be good for her to get a clean trip; the question for her, as for so many of these, is how she’ll handle there being so much potentially quality speed.

Spinaway Stakes: 3 Best Bets

These are the three best bets in the 2026 Spinaway Stakes:

1. Stress Relief (8-1)

Oddly, there’s a good chance the only graded-stakes winner might go off completely underbet. On one hand, it’s not the biggest surprise – horses improve quickly at this point in their careers, and every race is a referendum on whether a horse has kept pace with her peers. But, with so much speed in this race, one thing that can be determined for sure is that Stress Relief is versatile enough to pass horses. That gear wasn’t a given going into the Adirondack – she graduated on the front end – but she shifted to a stalking style in the Adirondack under Junior Alvarado and won anyway.

Here, she’ll get even more pace to track off of, with most of the field only proven on the front end, and several of them legitimately fast early. She’s also running against mostly horses who have only gone as far as 5 ½ or six furlongs – but she has won going 6 ½, meaning that she has been able to stay an extended-sprint trip. It bodes well for her staging this seven-furlong trip. Trainer Kinnon LaRose, who has taken the mantle from Tom Amoss, has been able to keep his horses in form once they’re good, and she has a good shot to assert her class at an appealing price in the Spinaway.

2. Summer Starlet (2-1)

Most of the field is speed, speed, speed. Summer Starlet, not so much. She was able to rally from near last and win in blowout fashion going 6 ½ furlongs on debut a month ago – and that looks like a race shape that will suit her once again. She’ll get a pace that may shake out even faster than her debut, and once again she’ll get an extended one-turn trip, something she already proved on debut that she can handle.

The biggest difference between debut and this race, other than the fact that she’s facing winners, is the post – she was drawn near the outside last time, and now she has to deal with a post down toward the inside. But, it’s not a huge field, and she should have no trouble dropping somewhere behind the surfeit of pace in the race, and then trying to swing out and mow them all down once again. She’ll be one of the favorites – but between Steve Asmussen’s hot meet and her appealing running style, she deserves it and has every chance to run to the money.

3. Life Changing (5-2)

Todd Pletcher wins this race a lot, and he has a talented debut maiden winner to bear his standard this time around. Though she has even more upside as the distances get longer, she was able to pop on debut and win going six furlongs, meaning she is precocious as well. And, though she did her work on the front end, she has the draw advantage compared to all the early speed horses – she has the clean outside gate.

Best case scenario for Life Changing is if it turns out she can work an outside pressing or stalking trip under her new jockey Flavien Prat – who has been making the most of his recent mounts for the Pletcher barn. But even if it turns out she has to go to the front, – say, if there’s some wild speed bias that unfolds throughout the day – she is likely to prove fast enough to make the lead against these types and the late pace she showed on debut was good enough to give her a shot to hold off the couple of runners who will be coming from behind her.

Spinaway Stakes FAQ

Q: When is the Spinaway Stakes?

A: The Spinaway Stakes happens Saturday, September 5, at 5:45 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

Q: Where is the Spinaway Stakes?

A: The Spinaway Stakes will be run at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. The race is the 11th of 12 on the Saturday card.

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the Spinaway Stakes?

A: Todd Pletcher has won the Spinaway seven times; he broke a tie with D. Wayne Lukas in 2025 when he won with Tommy Jo. Pletcher can extend his record to eight if Life Changing wins this year.

Q: Who is the favorite for the Spinaway Stakes?

A: The 2-1 morning-line favorite for the Spinaway is Summer Starlet, who dazzled in late-running fashion to graduate for Steve Asmussen on August 8. However, watch for action on other impressive local maiden winners including Life Changing (5-2) for Todd Pletcher and Angel of Kirk (9-2) for Brad Cox.

Q: Who is the best Spinaway Stakes jockey?

A: Angel Cordero, Jr. leads all jockeys with five wins in the Spinaway, most recently in 1989 with Stella Madrid. Among the riders in the 2026 edition, three riders have won it once before: Manny Franco (Angel of Kirk) won in 2024 with Immersive, Jose Lezcano (Bandmaster) won in 2023 with Leave No Trace, and Ricardo Santana, Jr. (Summer Starlet) won with Echo Zulu in 2021.

Q: Who won the Spinaway Stakes in 2025?

A: Tommy Jo won the 2025 Spinaway for trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey Kendrick Carmouche. Carmouche does not ride in the race this year, but Pletcher comes back with Life Changing, who will be ridden by Flavien Prat.

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