Saturday’s featured Diana Stakes at Saratoga is the first of 15 (17 if you count the steeplechases) Grade 1 races at the meet. May they all be such brain-teasers on paper. Even with just a seven-horse field of older grass fillies, there are at least three problems to be solved: What do you do with morning-line favorite My Miss Sophia? Is Stephanie’s Kitten tailing off or capable of reaching back and running another big one? Finally, is the New York Stakes, from which Stephanie’s Kitten and two others emerge, likelier to prove a key race or a negative key race? My Miss Sophia is a weird morning-line favorite for a Grade 1 grass race since she has made only one grass start, and against much weaker company. Yes, she looked good trouncing allowance rivals on turf last time out, and she has the class to compete at this level, having run second to Untapable in last year’s Kentucky Oaks. Still, you want a price more like 6-1 than 5-2 for a grass-stakes debut against three Grade 1 winners. Stephanie’s Kitten emerges from a very weird running of the New York, where she was 1-5 against what looked like a completely overmatched field and ran fourth, beaten a length. She was unable to catch even her own rabbit for third while 24-1 Waltzing Matilda won a race where only two lengths separated the first five finishers and the winner got a mediocre 92 Beyer Speed Figure. :: DRF Bets Exotic Summer: Get a refund of up to $25 on losing exacta box bets at Saratoga on Saturday Some will argue that there wasn’t enough pace for Stephanie’s Kitten, whose rabbit wasn’t very rabbitty, setting a very moderate pace. The problem with that argument is that Waltzing Matilda was no farther back early than Stephanie’s Kitten, who simply may have lost a step as a 6-year-old. It would be cheering to see her recapture her best form, and her dismal New York did come after a three-month layoff, but this may be the day to use her only defensively and look elsewhere for the winner. If you play against My Miss Sophia and the three coming out of the New York, you’re left with a choice among Tepin, Hard Not to Like, and Lady Lara. I’m siding with the first two. Tepin has gotten perfect trips in winning all three of her starts this year, but it may be time to start calling her good instead of repeatedly lucky. She has improved sharply this year, carries the top recent Beyers into today’s race, and has the positional speed yet versatility to be placed optimally however the race unfolds. Hard Not to Like is a little light on the Beyers, earning a 95 while winning the Grade 1 Gamely in her last start May 25. She is in career-best form and has won four straight starts on firm turf. Lady Lara is a little bit attractive at 10-1, but given her 1-for-11 record in graded company, she might best be used on the underside of exactas and triples. :: Bet Saratoga with DRF Bets and get FREE access to this article and all of DRF Plus, including Saratoga selections, video, and real-time analysis.