SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Nitrogen’s affinity for Saratoga was evident for all to see again on Friday with her dominant victory in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps, which makes the task of choosing where she’ll make her next start an easy decision. Somewhat more complicated, perhaps, is in which race Nitrogen should run. The logical spot is the Grade 2, $250,000 Shuvee on July 24. That race, at 1 1/8 miles, is the stepping-stone to the Grade 1, $500,000 Personal Ensign on Aug. 29, which is likely the main summer target for last year’s 3-year-old filly champion. The intriguing option for Nitrogen is the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney on Aug. 8, where she would have to take on a good group of older males likely led by Sovereignty, the 2025 Horse of the Year; White Abarrio, who beat Sovereignty in the Oaklawn Handicap in April; and Magnitude, the Dubai World Cup winner. All three of those horses are expected to run first in the Grade 1, $2 million Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs on June 27. Trainer Mark Casse said Saturday that a decision on where Nitrogen would run next can wait until she resumes training. Her 12 3/4-length win in the Phipps, in which she ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:46.93 – just .29 seconds off the track record set by Lawyer Ron in the 2007 Whitney – resulted in a 113 Beyer Speed Figure. That’s the highest number since Sovereignty’s 115 in the Travers last August. :: DRF Belmont Stakes Packages: Save big on PPs, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more. Nitrogen is now 3 for 3 at Saratoga with wins in the Phipps, the Grade 1 Alabama, and the off-the-turf Wonder Again, a race she won by 17 lengths in the slop.  “I think we got to see she acts,” Casse said Saturday morning. “She did it really easy. She likes it here. We employed a new strategy. I talked to Jose [Ortiz] and said, 'Look, I don’t want to grab her anymore.’ " The new strategy was Nitrogen being able to dictate terms from the outset. She left her five rivals in her wake as she drew clear to a dominant victory. Nitrogen improved her overall record to 8-5-3 from 16 starts and increased her earnings to $2,730,854. Casse's decision on where to run Grade 1 Acorn winner Counting Stars next is pretty clear. Saratoga hosts the Grade 1, $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks on July 25 as a stepping-stone to the Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama here on Aug. 22. Counting Stars roared from off the pace to run by odds-on choice Always a Runner and win the Acorn by 3 3/4 lengths over the favorite. Counting Stars, who finished third to Always a Runner in the Kentucky Oaks, ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.85 and earned a 95 Beyer Speed Figure. Counting Stars ran the way Casse thought she would have run in the Kentucky Oaks. In that race, Francisco Arietta had Counting Stars covered up but wasn’t able to get out until it was too late to run down Always a Runner. “I ran a lot of horses that weekend, and they said if you only had one winner, who would it be? I said Counting Stars,” Casse said. :: Bet the Belmont Stakes with confidence! Betting Strategies by Mike Beer and David Aragona feature exclusive wager recommendations! If she runs in the Coaching Club, Counting Stars will likely meet Always a Runner, the Kentucky Oaks winner who suffered her first career defeat in the Acorn. Trainer Chad Brown didn’t offer an excuse for Always a Runner, saying simply that his filly was second best.  “She didn’t run her ‘A’ race. The winner did. The winner was very impressive, but it wasn’t a bad effort,” Brown said. “She fired and she was just a little off her best, I’d say. She came back really well. I like the spacing to the Coaching Club. Let’s take a look at that.” Brown did win three stakes on Friday’s card, taking the Grade 1 New York with Portfolio Duration, the Grade 2 Bed o’ Roses with Ways and Means, and the Grade 2 Wonder Again with Fitz Right. In the New York, which Brown won for a record-extending sixth time, Portfolio Duration won in gate-to-wire fashion, holding off the late-running European shipper Cankoura by a head. Brown also sent out the third-, fourth-, and fifth-place finishers in Kathynmarissa, City Girl, and Pretty Picture. Portfolio Duration, who earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure, and Kathynmarissa are likely bound for the Grade 1, $500,000 Diana on July 18. Brown has won the Diana a record 10 times, including nine of the last 10 runnings. Plans for City Girl and Pretty Picture are to be determined. “Pretty Picture, I’d have to regroup, something easier. She was a little out of sorts being that close yesterday,” Brown said. “She was a little rank. I didn’t see that coming. She’s a far-from-off-the-pace filly. I still have high hopes for her. “City Girl had maybe the roughest trip of the four. She got slammed at the start,” Brown added. “I didn’t want her that far back. Irad [Ortiz] just got clobbered. He did the best he could. I think that filly has some graded stakes with her name on it this year.” Ways and Means won the Bed o’ Roses for the second consecutive year. In 2025, she won it by 7 3/4 lengths with a 111 Beyer Speed Figure. Friday, Ways and Means caught Grand Job on the wire to win by a nose. Her final time of 1:21.05 for seven furlongs translated to a 107 Beyer Speed Figure.  Ways and Means likely won’t race again until the Grade 1 Ballerina on Aug. 29. She missed the Ballerina last year due to illness. “She ran such a big number again. She runs these huge numbers like that, especially at Saratoga,” Brown said. “I’ll give her a little time to recover. You probably won’t see her 'til the Ballerina.”  Fitz Right, who earned an 89 Beyer for her one-length victory over Lion Lake, will be considered for the Grade 1, $750,000 Belmont Oaks on July 4. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.