Echo Sound Aims to Echo Victory Ride Win in Test

One of only two grade 1 races restricted to 3-year-old fillies around one turn in North America, the $500,000 Test Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course Aug. 2 will be exactly as the name describes.

Eight fillies are set to line up in search of their first top-level victory.

“The Test always comes up tough,” trainer Rusty Arnold said about the seven-furlong contest. “You get some fillies who want to go a little bit farther backing up, some sprinters stretching out. … A lot of it is going to be who gets the trip and shows up on Saturday with their best.”

Arnold is represented by two runners in this year’s edition, including morning line favorite Echo Sound . The Gabriel Duignan-owned daughter of Echo Town   has impressed so far in her career, running her way to a 5-for-6 record with close to a half-million in earnings.

After a delayed start to her season, Echo Sound has rallied off two eye-catching victories in grade 3 company. She posted a career best 108 Equibase Speed Figure in the July 3 Victory Ride Stakes (G3) at Saratoga—a race Arnold said set her up perfectly for the Test. The one-day short of a month turnaround will be the quickest come back in her career so far as she tests seven furlongs for the first time.

Video: Victory Ride S. (G3)

“That’s one factor, she’s run a very fast race and she’s coming back in four weeks. We would prefer a couple more, but we didn’t have a couple more,” Arnold said. “She’s done well (since the Victory Ride). Her works were good, (jockey) Luis (Saez) was on her the other day and thought she traveled great and her energy level was good, so we’re ready to go.”

Echo Sound will break from post 6 while her stablemate, Kilwin , will break from the 2 with Jose Ortiz aboard for the first time. A stakes winner on turf at 2, BBN Racing’s Twirling Candy   filly conquered her first dirt test with a 1 1/4-length win in the June 8 Leslie’s Lady Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs at the same seven-furlong distance.

“This is a lot tougher of a step up,” Arnold said of the competition compared to her previous dirt start. “The seven-eighths is obviously something that’s not going to be a problem for her. She ran good on the Churchill dirt, and we’re going to see if she can transfer her form to Saratoga.”

Posting a 104 ESF, the dirt victory opened the door for connections to seek a grade 1 score on the path to the $2 million Music City Stakes (G2T) at Kentucky Downs Sept. 6.

“There just aren’t a lot of opportunities for a 3-year-old filly to win a grade 1,” Arnold said. “The group made the decision she deserves her chance in the grade 1, and we’re going to give it to her.”

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott has also come to play with a pair of runners himself. He bookends the field with Godolphin’s Ragtime  along the rail and Tranquility Lake Farms’ Beauty Reigns  on the far outside.

Meanwhile, Ragtime tests these waters for the first time after beginning her career 2-for-2. Both her maiden race and allowance victories at Saratoga were open to older horses, but the Union Rags   filly was still able to take the spotlight with a combined margin of victory of eight lengths.

“It’s a big jump,” Mott said of the competition. “Of course, it’s a big jump to the (allowance race) against older horses and New York-breds that have gone through all their conditions, but she handled that well.”

The theme of pairs continues in a duo of California-based graded stakes-winning fillies shipping in for the grade 1 attempt.

Edward Childs’ Cash Call  cuts back from a 1 1/16-mile victory in the Summertime Oaks (G3) at Santa Anita Park June 7 for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. Flavien Prat takes up the irons for the first time as she aims to extend her win streak to four.

Also cutting back is Reddam Racing’s Look Forward  for trainer Michael McCarthy, who, although based in California, has only raced there once in five starts this year. The Bolt d’Oro   filly exits a solid runner-up finish at the Spa in the June 6 Acorn Stakes (G1) at 1 1/8 miles. Previously, she flashed her talent over seven furlongs with a triumph in the Eight Belles Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs in May.

Rounding out the field are Me and Molly McGee , who enters stakes company on a two-race win streak, and Artisma , runner-up to Look Forward in January’s Santa Ynez at Santa Anita Park.