SARATOGA SPRINGS — Having precocious 2-year-olds is nothing new for trainer Todd Pletcher, who is hoping potential trumps seasoning for the talented but untested Munnings.

An impressive debut winner over the track on July 26, Munnings will make his second career start in today’s $250,000 Hopeful at Saratoga Race Course.

It is the first Grade I of the year for juvenile males and the last at Saratoga, which closes its six-week meet today.

“We’re very excited about this horse, the way he’s trained and the way he ran first time,” Pletcher said. “Obviously, from an experience standpoint, anytime you go into a race like this off of only one start, you’re always concerned.

“Quite a few of the horses in there have had the benefit of a couple of starts. At this early stage of the game, every little bit of experience helps.”

A son of 2004 champion sprinter Speightstown, Munnings is the

5-2 program favorite breaking from post four in the seven-furlong Hopeful, which drew a field of eight.

He was purchased for $1.7 million out of Fasig-Tipton’s February 2-year-old in training sale at Calder Race Course, where he was the second-highest price. The $2.1 million topper was Desert Party, winner of Saratoga’s Grade II Sanford on July 24, who is among his Hopeful rivals.

“He was the kind that was easy to get excited about because I saw what he did at Calder. He breezed really, really fast there,” Pletcher said. “What I liked about him was when he came in, in spite of having been geared up for an early-season work like that, he had a terrific disposition and mind.

“What you oftentimes worry about with horses that have been geared up early on, sometimes, mentally, they are always geared up, and it’s hard to get them to relax and give you a run on cue. He’s got a terrific dispos­ition and mind, which, obviously, is helpful.”

It took until the first Saturday of the meet to unveil Munnings, who wired a field of eight going six furlongs despite hitting the starting gate, finishing 41⁄4 lengths in front in 1:09.84.

“I felt like we had him pretty fit,” Pletcher said. “His couple of works away from the gate at Belmont were quite good, and I liked the way he finished in those works and galloped out.

“But he surprised me a little bit in that he didn’t get away real well and [jockey] Johnny [Velazquez] used him pretty hard to get there and, yet, despite going pretty fast, he kept going. That, to me, was what was impressive about it. He didn’t sit off fast fractions and pass tired horses. He was the one running from gate to wire, and the time was very good.”

Desert Party won the six-furlong Sanford by 31⁄4 lengths in 1:12.23 over a sealed, sloppy main track, and had a bullet work over the track last week.

Trainer Wesley Ward will take the blinkers off Notonthesame­page, who ran second as the heavy fav­orite in the $59,000 Tyro at Monmouth Park July 26 after being scratched from the Sanford with a fever. Notonthesamepage set the 41⁄2-furlong track record breaking his maiden at Churchill Downs April 30.

GLENS FALLS

Today’s co-feature is the Grade III $100,000 Glens Falls for fillies and mares going 11 furlongs on turf. It will be run as the eighth of 11 races.

Seven were entered, led by 6-5 program favorite Dynaforce, who has run second in both her North American starts, including the Grade I Diana here July 26. She was also a neck behind the country’s top turf mare, Mauralakana, in the Grade II New York Handicap.

After checking the turf course, trainer Jim Bond will decide today whether to run Hostess, who is

1-for-4 this year. Considered for the Grade I Sword Dancer against males, her lone victory came in the Grade III Orchid over Mauralakana, who beat her in her other three starts.