SARATOGA SPRINGS — It’s hard to find a reason not to like I Lost My Choo in today’s $150,000 Statue of Liberty Division of the New York Stallion Stakes at Sar­atoga Race Course.

Trainer Phil Serpe’s 3-year-old filly has Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado in the saddle, and she has defeated much stronger company recently in the Virginia Oaks and the Elmont.

But Serpe isn’t reserving a spot in the winner’s circle just yet.

“The type of field we have in this race is a matter of circumstances,” he said. “The Stallion Stakes was set up when the horses had New York mares by New York sires. Who gets to race two or three years later remains to be seen. That’s the way the field came up.”

But Serpe admitted that his filly has already defeated stronger competition and should be considered a favorite for the six-horse race run at 11⁄16 miles on the inner turf course.

“As far as the competition is concerned, obviously, this race looks a little lighter than the Virginia Oaks. But nothing is taken for granted, especially here at Saratoga.”

If the race is taken off the turf, I Lost My Choo won’t run.

I Lost My Choo has triumphed in five of her eight career races with two third-place finishes.

She is known for slow starts and fast finishes.

“Her best races are when she sits back and comes on strong at the end,” Serpe said. “She’s been doing very well in her works. She came back from last race in good shape.”

He’s not sure where his top competition will come from.

“There are a couple of fillies who haven’t been on the turf yet, and there is always a concern that somebody might like it and jump up,” he said. “It’s hard to say. I do know that Western Slang has had a few successful runs on the turf so far, and she might be the one to look out for.”

Serpe said he has no immediate plans for I Lost My Choo, no matter what happens in today’s race.

“We’re just taking it slowly. We haven’t thought that far ahead yet. We’ll see what happens,” he said.

Western Slang, Eibar Coa up, has two victories in six career starts, including a win in an allowance race at Belmont in her last start.

Rounding out the field are Ommadon’s Frenzy, Study Abroad, Talbots Shopper and Raffie’s Treasure.

Talbot’s Shopper won her last time out, and Raffie’s Treasure won her debut before posting back-to-back eighth-place finishes in her last two starts.

MIXED UP OUT

Mixed Up had been the slim 3-1 morning-line favorite for the Grade A.P. Smithwick Memorial Steeplechase, he won’t run today and will likely be shut down until next spring.

The 2007 Smithwick winner, a 9-year-old gelding, has some

minor physical issues, and trainer Jonathan Sheppard wants to make sure they’re cleared up before he asks Mixed Up to start lugging 158 pounds in a race again.

“We think they are kind of warning signs that we could do damage if we ran him with that much weight in a strong field like that,” Sheppard said. “So we’ll sit it out and possibly might even put him away until spring. He’s had little problems, and he just hadn’t been quite right.”

“Probably the better thing to do was to give him some time and let him figure it out on his own. With him being so high in the weights and being 9 years old, it was almost a little bit of a relief, because I feel badly sending him out there. That’s kind of what happened to him, he paid the penalty of having two big wins last year. Then in his next three starts he had huge weights in all of them and he couldn’t quite hack it. It took the starch out of him a little.”

Salford City is 7-2 on the morning line for his first start in the U.S.

Guelph and Meneef each bring a two-race winning streak into the Smithwick, which will be the first race on the 10-race card.