Echo Sound returns a winner with easy score in Regret
:quality(75))
Trainer Rusty Arnold cross-entered Echo Sound between Monmouth and Ellis Park this weekend, but the trip to New Jersey proved well worth it in the $100,000 Regret Stakes on Saturday. The two-time graded stakes winner made her 4-year-old debut off a 10-month layoff and pulled clear to win by 7 1/2 lengths.
Four of the first five stakes winners on the Haskell Day card won by 5 1/2 lengths or more, and the Arnold-trained filly kept the trend going under Luis Saez. Despite dealing with early pressure for the lead, she eventually shook off multiple challengers and eased away at the wire. She paid $3.80 to win.
“Beautiful trip,” Saez said. “She came from there pretty well. She was in a great spot. Actually, it was the spot we were looking for because we know her pretty well and we know she likes to be in the clear. She put me in a great path and she finished easy.”
Far from clear at the start, Echo Sound had to duel with longshot Jewel of the Ocean and 9-2 third choice Disco Ebo, vying between horses through an opening quarter-mile in 22.01 seconds.
Jewel of the Ocean held a short lead on the backstretch of the six-furlong sprint, but when the New Jersey-bred caved on the front end, Saez easily took command aboard the 4-5 favorite, carrying on in a duel with the Butch Reid-trained gelding Disco Ebo while completing the half-mile in 45.28.
Disco Ebo tried his best to stick to the winner but eventually fell back to fifth, along with the stalking contender Ms. Bucchero. Without another challenger, Echo Sound ran off at will and completed the six-furlong distance in 1:10.48.
“I was pretty confident because I knew I had a lot of horse,” Saez said.
Summer’s Comin, a New Jersey-bred trained by Mike Dini, rallied from fifth to take a distant second. He finished a half-length ahead of It’s Goodtobe Jose, a 20-1 longshot trained by Kathleen DeMasi.
Last year, Echo Sound notched back-to-back Grade 3 stakes victories in the Miss Preakness at Pimlico and Victory Ride at Saratoga, winning the latter race by 4 1/4 lengths with a 101 Beyer Speed Figure. She ended the year on a disappointing note, finishing well back in the Grade 1 Test and Grade 3 Dogwood.
Arnold considered her for the $175,000 Twin Bridges at Ellis Park on Sunday, but she proved a comfortable winner at Monmouth and is likely to build on this performance.
Souper Quest wins off-turf Wolf Hill
The $100,000 Wolf Hill Stakes was taken off the turf on Saturday, clearing the way for 2-5 favorite Souper Quest to clear three rivals by 6 1/4 lengths. It might be an anti-climactic first stakes victory for the 6-year-old gelding, but it’s one trainer Mark Casse had been waiting on for years.
With six horses scratching from the 5 1/2-furlong sprint after two bouts of severe weather forced the race to the dirt, Souper Quest was expected to be the early leader in the shortened field of four older males. He missed the break under Irad Ortiz Jr., but he didn’t have much trouble hustling forward to take command on the backstretch.
“Unfortunately, we missed the break,” Ortiz said. “After that, I just tried to let him be him, don't get in his way. He was the speed of the race, so he made it over on his own. I didn’t really rush him. It worked out beautiful.”
The favored pacesetter was 1 1/2 lengths clear through an opening quarter-mile in 22.65 seconds, and despite receiving some slight pressure from last-out synthetic stakes winner Spirited Sol, he easily shook clear on the far turn and was gone well before midstretch. He completed the 5 1/2-furlong distance on a wet track in 1:05.25 and paid $2.80 to win.
I’m a Gambler, a 7-year-old looking for his first win since 2024, rallied for second for trainer Peter Synnefias. He finished 4 3/4 lengths ahead of the Kimberly Depasquale-trained gelding Spirited Sol. Fierce and Strong, last year’s Wolf Hill winner, finished well back in fourth.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.