When Mission of Joy does return to the winner's circle, it's increasingly likely she'll do so following a Gr1 victory.

The Kitten's Joy filly may still be seeking her first win in nearly a year, but Saturday at Saratoga nearly pulled it off in the Gr1 Just a Game S. on the Belmont Stakes undercard.

Last of seven turning for home, Mission of Joy picked up momentum in the last furlong of the mile test to finish a closing 3rd, a 1/2 length behind the victorious Chili Flag & a head short of runner-up Whitebeam.

A dual Gr3 winner at 3yo, the Graham Motion-trained Mission of Joy was also 3rd in last October's Gr1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup. The Sam-Son Farm bred is out of Smart Strike's daughter Smart Mission, whose dam Misty Mission produced three stakes winners, including Canadian champion Irish Mission.