Test attracts top-class sprinting fillies from all over the map
?q=100)
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Top sprinters from coast to cast will be out in force when eight of the fastest 3-year-old fillies in the country square off at seven furlongs Saturday at Saratoga in the Grade 1 Test Stakes.
The East will be represented by the once-beaten Grade 3 winner Echo Sound along with the Bill Mott-trained duo of the undefeated Ragtime and her stablemate Beauty Reigns. The West counters with the Grade 1-placed Look Forward, Grade 3 winner Cash Call, and Artisma. Kilwin and Me and Molly McGee are the Midwest representatives in the well-matched lineup. Kilwin ships in from her Keeneland base for Rusty Arnold, who also trains Echo Sound.
The well-traveled Echo Sound looms the horse to beat off a sensational effort in her local debut in the 6 1/2-furlong Victory Ride four weeks earlier. She prompted the early pace before drawing off to a convincing 4 1/4-length victory over Beauty Reigns for which she earned a 101 Beyer Speed Figure. Arnold says he is really looking forward to seeing how she’ll fare in her first start at the Grade 1 level.
“She did a lot as a 2-year-old, came up with a little issue after suffering her only loss in November. We gave her the time and she’s really developed, coming back a little bit bigger and stronger at 3,” said Arnold, who won the Grade 3 Lake George here last weekend with another up-and-coming 3-year-old filly, Daisy Flyer.
“She’s obviously off to a great start this season and I don’t think she’ll have any trouble getting the seven furlongs. She handled 6 1/2 without a problem and galloped out really well after the race.”
Kilwin made her first five career starts on grass, winning twice while also finishing fifth in the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Switching to the main track for the first time, she captured the Leslie’s Lady Stakes going seven furlongs on June 8 at Churchill Downs.
“All her breezes on the dirt have been good her whole life so we decided to give her a chance on it last time and she threw herself into the fray for this race by running so well at Churchill Downs,” Arnold explained. “It certainly opened a lot of doors for her. We were originally looking in a different direction, not at the Test, but there aren’t many Grade 1s for 3-year-old fillies going seven furlongs on dirt so we agreed to give it a try. Fortunately these two fillies have different running styles, so they shouldn’t get in each other’s way.”
Look Forward, who made her first seven starts at seven different racetracks, returns to Saratoga for a second time off a second-place finish behind the odds-on La Cara going 1 1/8 miles over a sloppy track in the Grade 1 Acorn. She will be competing at seven furlongs for the third time Saturday, a distance at which she’s already won a pair of stakes, including the Grade 2 Eight Belles on the Kentucky Oaks undercard at Churchill.
“She wasn’t quite at her best in a couple of her starts earlier this year, but I thought she was very impressive winning the Eight Belles,” said trainer Michael McCarthy. “And I thought her race in the Acorn was very good. She’s trained well for the race, although her last work was a little faster than we wanted, a reflection of the fact she hooked in with some unexpected company from the quarter pole to the wire that moring.”
Cash Call brings a three-race win streak into the Test for trainer Bob Baffert, who has won this race on three previous occasions. Like Look Forward, she too will be turning back in distance after posting a popular and very game three-quarter-length victory going 1 1/16 miles in the Grade 3 Summertime Oaks late this spring at Santa Anita.
Ragtime gets a big class test after opening her career with a pair of one-sided victories for Mott, with both wins coming locally at the seven-furlong distance of the Test. Stablemate Beauty Reigns is far more experienced and accomplished, having been stakes-placed in each of her last two starts, although she did prove little competition for Echo Sound when a distant second in the Victory Ride.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.