Stars and Strides leads G3 Hill Prince

Pin Oak Stud’s Stars and Strides is 2-for-2 on turf and seeks his first graded win in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Hill Prince, a nine-furlong inner turf test for sophomores, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, the American Pharoah bay won by a head when making his seven-furlong debut over the main track in June at Saratoga Race Course. After a misfire over that same course in July, Stars and Strides captured a one-mile optional claimer over Spa turf in August ahead of a last-out 1 1/4-length score in the 1 1/16-mile restricted Listed Saranac on September 1 there.

In the Saranac, Stars and Strides stalked and pounced with an inside rally to victory under Junior Alvarado, who has piloted all four outings and will be back aboard from post 6.

The performance earned an 86 Beyer Speed Figure, improving from an 84 in his prior turf effort. There, Stars and Strides lugged in during the stretch drive, but had the jump on a slew of closers including runner-up and returning rival Griffin’s Wharf en route to a three-quarter-length victory.

Bred in Kentucky by Four Pillars Holdings, Stars and Strides, a $475,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase, is a half-brother to stakes-winner Panther Island, both out of the winning Ghostzapper mare Holiday Blues, a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-placed Wine Police.