by Myra Lewyn

Trainer Bobby Frankel said Frank Stronach’s homebred Ginger Punch looks more physically imposing and has grown up quite a bit from last year when she earned champion older female honors.

If his assessment is on target, the five-year-old Awesome Again mare could be unstoppable on Saturday when she bids to win the $250,000 Go for Wand Handicap (G1) for the second straight year at Saratoga Race Course.

“Obviously, she is much better than last year,” Frankel said of Ginger Punch, who earned her first Grade 1 win with a six-length romp in last year’s edition of the race.

She followed with a win in the Ruffian Handicap (G1) at Belmont Park before closing the season at Monmouth Park with a neck victory over Hystericalady in the Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) en route to the Eclipse Award.

“Physically, she looks 100 times better; she has matured a lot,” Frankel said. “Last year, coming into the [Go for Wand], I didn’t know how good she was. I was trying to get a graded stakes win into her.”

This year, Ginger Punch has won three of four starts, including back-to-back victories in the Louisville Stakes (G2) on May 2 at Churchill Downs and the Ogden Phipps Handicap (G1), which she won by a 7¾ lengths on June 14 at Belmont in her most recent start. The lone blemish on her 2008 record came on April 5 in the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1), in which she set the pace as the 122-pound highweight before fading to third behind winner Zenyatta, to whom Ginger Punch conceded six pounds.

Ginger Punch is the only Grade 1 winner entered in the Go for Wand and was assigned high weight of 124 pounds for the 1 1/8-mile race, which is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge “Win and You’re In” series. A victory earns the winner a starting spot in the renamed Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic (G1) on October 25 at Santa Anita Park.

Frankel also entered Stronach homebred Spring Waltz, winner of the Rampart Handicap (G2) on March 9.

Other entrants include Arlington Matron Handicap (G3) winner Indescribable; 2007 Delaware Oaks (G2) victress Moon Catcher, who was fifth in the Ogden Phipps; and stakes winners Runway Rosie, Copper State, and Over Under.

Myra Lewyn is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor

The field, in post-position order, with (sire), jockey, weight, and trainer:

1. Ginger Punch (Awesome Again), Rafael Bejarano, 124, Robert J. Frankel;

2. Inside Passage (Tiznow), Eibar Coa, 113, Barclay Tagg;

3. Indescribable (Pleasant Tap), Kent J. Desormeaux, 115, William I. Mott;

4. Moon Catcher (Malibu Moon), Edgar S. Prado, 115, Christophe Clement;

5. Copper State (Jump Start), Shaun Bridgmohan, 114, Steven M. Asmussen;

6. Runway Rosie (Include), Rajiv Maragh, 114, Gary C. Contessa;

7. Over Under (Seeking the Gold), Robby Albarado, 113, Dallas Stewart; and

8. Spring Waltz (Silver Charm), Javier Castellano, 117, Robert J. Frankel.