Trainer Rusty Arnold doesn’t have the stable numbers of Saratoga heavyweights like Todd Pletcher, Chad Brown, Linda Rice and Bill Mott.
Keeping a much lower profile, Arnold is quietly putting up Saratoga stats that make bettors smile. He is 1-0-1 from only three runners (the win, a $16.40 upset, was produced by Daisy Flyer in the Lake George Stakes (G3) and those numbers could look even better after the $500,000 Test Stakes (G1) for 3-year-old fillies at 7 furlongs on Saturday.
Arnold sends out a potent pair of Echo Sound, the 9-5 favorite, and Kilwin (6-1), who made a successful transition from turf to dirt to capture the Leslie’s Lady Stakes last time out at Churchill Downs.
Echo Sound is potentially the star of this show. She is 5-for-6 with the lone defeat a second-place finish in the Fern Creek Stakes at Churchill Downs to close out her freshman campaign.
She’s come back better and stronger, capturing a pair of graded stakes to launch her 2025 season. Echo Sound looped the pack to win the Miss Preakness (G3) at Pimlico before heading to Saratoga to crush three rivals in the Victory Ride (G3) last month.
The commanding 4 ¼ length win combined with dazzling speed figures makes her the one to beat if she can repeat that effort.
“She came back stronger at three,” Arnold said. “Hopefully, she’ll keep going forward from here. We’re going to find out on Saturday.”
Kilwin, Arnold’s other entrant, is the leading money-earner in the field with over $800,000 already in the bank. Granted most of that came on the turf where she established her class in winning the $1 million Untapable at Kentucky Downs followed by a very respectable fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1). After a couple of indifferent efforts in turf sprint stakes to start this year, Arnold switched her to main track for the Leslie’s Lady and Kilwin perked up, flashing her back class for an 8-1 upset.
Let’s complete the top three with Look Forward, cutting back in distance from 1 1/8 miles in the Acorn Stakes (G1), where she ran second in the slop, to 7 furlongs where she is 2-for-2 with both wins coming in stakes.
Of course, it’s Whitney Stakes Day on Saturday, and the Test is one of four Grade 1s on the blockbuster card featuring the $1 million Whitney Stakes (G1). The other Grade 1s are the $750,000 Fourstardave Stakes (G1), like the Whitney a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In’’ challenge race and the $750,000 Saratoga Derby Invitational.
The early betting favorites are Fierceness (9-5) over Sierra Leone (2-1) in the Whitney, Johannes (5-2) in the Fourstardave, and Hotazhell (7-5) in the Saratoga Derby Invitational.
For those who bet horse racing ... here are the picks for the Test
1 Ragtime (Junior Alvarado, Bill Mott), 4-1
2 Kilwin (Jose Ortiz, Rusty Arnold), 6/-1
3 Look Forward (Umberto Rispoli), Mike McCarthy), 8-1
4 Cash Call (Flavien Prat, Bob Baffert), 5-1
5 Me and Molly McGee (Frankie Dettori, Peter Eurton), 8-1
6 Echo Sound (Luis Saez, Rusty Arnold), 9-5
7 Artisma (John Velazquez, Richard Baltas), 20-1
8 Beauty Reigns (Irad Ortiz, Jr., Bill Mott), 6-1
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
