No matter the horse, no matter the jockey, no matter the track, Chad Brown has cornered the market on the $500,000 Just a Game Stakes (G1).
The five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer has won this 1-mile turf race eight times – that’s eight times in the last nine years! And he has the favorite for Saturday’s Just a Game in Segesta, the morning-line choice at 7-5 in a field of eight fillies and mares 4-years-old and up.
“She was off a layoff and dead-heated for the win last time,” Brown said of his 5-year-old filly’s dead-heat with Expensive Queen in the Jenny Wiley Stakes (G1) at Keeneland on April 11 in her 2026 debut. “She got a good run out of it, and she should move forward, fitness-wise. I didn’t have her fully cranked.”
The Just a Game is one of six Grade 1 stakes on the undercard at Saratoga leading up to the $2 million Belmont Stakes (G1), featuring Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Golden Tempo and runner-up Renegade.
| 2026 Belmont Stakes Odds | ||
| Official post positions set following the post-position draw on Monday, June 1, 2026. | ||
| PP | Horse / Trainer | Morning Line |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vitruvian ManAntonio Fresu · D. O'Neill | 30/1 |
| 2 | PowershiftLuis Saez · T. Pletcher | 12/1 |
| 3 | Chief WallabeeJunior Alvarado · W. Mott | 3/1 |
| 4 | RenegadeIrad Ortiz Jr. · T. Pletcher | 2/1 |
| 5 | OttinhoDylan Davis · C. Brown | 20/1 |
| 6 | Growth EquityManny Franco · C. Brown | 12/1 |
| 7 | CommandmentJohn Velazquez · B. Cox | 6/1 |
| 8 | Emerging MarketFlavien Prat · C. Brown | 6/1 |
| 9 | Golden TempoJose Ortiz · C. DeVaux | 9/2 |
Last Updated on 06/01/2026
The race is named after the 1980 U.S. Champion Female Turf Horse, Just a Game, and was inaugurated in 1992 with its first running over the main track due to poor weather. The event has become a key prep for the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1) and a showcase for top turf milers.
Brown has dominated with a record eight winners (2017–2020, 2022–2025). Juddmonte Farm has been represented by four winners, and jockeys Javier Castellano and Irad Ortiz, Jr. each have booted home four.
Important past winners include champions Perfect Sting (2000), Tepin (2015), Stephanie’s Kitten (2013), Intercontinental (2004), and Perfect Sting (2000). Brown has won with eight different horses, four different riders, and at two different tracks.
As Segesta seeks a third Grade 1 win in a row, she’ll be facing several stakes winners and a European import with upset potential.
Owned by Juddmonte, Segesta is in top form with a resume that also includes wins in the 2025 Matriarch Stakes (G1), the Wonder Again Stakes (G2) and Matchmaker Stakes (G3)
A daughter of Ghostzapper, Segesta is a versatile mid-pack to closer with a strong kick, she loves a mile and also firm turf as shown by her dismal sixth-place finish in last year’s Just a Game over a yielding surface.
Her dam Antonoe won this race in 2017, which adds some pedigree appeal. With Flavien Prat back aboard, she’s the one to beat if she repeats her recent top-level efforts.
Mark Casse trains Classic Q (6-1) for Gary Barber, Blue Crevalle Racing, and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. The daughter of Classic Empire, with one notable exception in the Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf (G2) -- last of 12 -- she has been quite consistent. She won the Distaff Turf Mile (G2) last out with a strong nearly wire-to-wire performance. Depending on the pace, she could repeat this type of performance or sit off the pace under Hall of Famer John Velazquez. She brings solid recent stakes form but may need to step up against Segesta’s class.
Live Oak Plantation’s And One More Time (8-1) also hails from the Casse shedrow, and the daughter of Omaha Beach is coming off a listed stakes win in the Plenty of Grace where she earned a big speed figure. She has some tactical versatility and a good late kick, which will help her in here if the pace is quick. Javier Castellano rides and her sharp recent form makes her a live contender, though she’ll need to prove herself at this elite level.
“Johnny rode a great race on her [in the Distaff Turf Mile],” Casse said. “She was coming down the stretch waiting and looking for Lush Lips [who defeated her in two graded stakes in the past year], but luckily, she wasn’t there. She’s seen that filly too many times. It was a great effort and a great ride. She always tries really hard. We know she likes Saratoga.”
The Ireland-bred Sandtrap (3-1) is Brown’s other entrant, a lightly raced daughter of Lope de Vega, who was a dominant winner of an Aqueduct allowance in April, in what was her U.S. debut.
Manny Franco rides this very promising, but she is still very lightly raced compared to most of the field. She could improve significantly, but lacks stakes experience.
“She ran to her training [last out],” Brown said. “This horse had a very impressive winter with us, and I was optimistic that she would run that way. She looks to be ready to go right into a proper Grade 1.”
France-bred Mandanaba (9-2) is coming off a listed stakes win in France, the Prix Maurice Zilber at Longchamp. The Group 3 winner is trained by Francis-Henri Graffard and will be ridden by Clement Lecoeuvre.
As an import, she brings unknown but potentially high-class turf form and appears to prefer to travel likely forward or mid-pack. She could surprise if adapting well to U.S. racing.
“She’s a filly who likes good, fast ground,” Nemone Routh, director and French racing manager for the Aga Khan, said. “She normally breaks well and likes to be forward, enjoying a fast pace. We have always thought she was a good fit for American racing. In France, you tend to need a big acceleration, but she has a higher cruising speed and can just keep going at that pace. She’s a really game and genuine filly.”
Buttercream Babe (15-1), a Rusty Arnold trainee by Twirling Candy owned by Three Diamonds Racing, enters off a third-place finish in the listed License Fee Stakes at Aqueduct. She’s a grinder with mid-pack style and some late run. She has respectable form but probably needs more to challenge the top ones. Luis Saez will be aboard.
Deep Satin (12-1) finished eighth in the Jenny Wiley last out for Cherie DeVaux, but does have a nice second over this course in the First Lady Stakes (G1) from last summer, so she can be competitive against this tough field. Recent form suggests she’ll be a longshot needing a career best, though. Jose Ortiz rides.
Fast Market (20-1), trained by John Terranova, finished sixth in the Jenny Wiley last out but has upside as a 4-year-old with improving form overall after winning the Pebbles Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct in her final sophomore start. She is likely to find herself mid-pack early and close in the lane, and though facing tougher company, she’ll appreciate an honest pace under Dylan Davis.
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
