2025 Test Stakes Preview at Saratoga Race Course

Key Takeaways:

• Echo Sound (9-5) is the favorite after a dominant local prep win, but faces her longest distance yet and possible regression.
• Ragtime is undefeated and lightly raced for Bill Mott; dangerous new face with upside despite rail draw.
• Look Forward is undefeated sprinting and exits a strong Acorn (G1) effort; sneaky value contender.
• Cash Call cuts back in distance after a gritty Oaks win and gets Flavien Prat for Baffert.

The biggest race of the summer for sophomore sprint fillies happens Saturday, August 2 at Saratoga: the Grade 1, $500,000 Test Stakes. The seven-furlong race always draws an exciting mix of proven sprinters, horses cutting back after longer stakes engagements, and later bloomers hoping to break through at the top level in time for major late-season spots like the Raven Run (G2) or the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint in the fall.

The 2025 edition of the Test drew a field of eight. The morning-line favorite is Echo Sound, the Victory Ride (G3) winner stretching out to the longest trip of her career. Her graded-stakes-winning foes include Eight Belles (G2) winner Look Forward and Summertime Oaks (G3) victress Cash Call, but with plenty of up-and-coming fillies in the field as well, the Test is never easy for anyone.

2025 Test Stakes Information

• Race Date: Saturday, August 2
• Track: Saratoga Race Course
• Post Time: 5:04 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
• Distance: seven furlongs
• Age/Sex: three-year-old fillies
• Where to Watch: FanDuel Racing, Fox
• Where to Bet: FanDuel Racing

Test Stakes Draw and Odds

This is the field for the 2025 Test Stakes, including post positions, trainers, jockeys, and official morning-line odds for each runner.

Test Stakes Prep Race Results

The eight horses in the Test come out of six different races. The one stakes with more than one last-out runner is, fittingly, the Victory Ride. Echo Sound won that 6 ½-furlong local prep, while Beauty Reigns chased her home for second. The one other last-out graded-stakes winner in the field is Cash Call, who won the 1 1/16-mile Summertime Oaks for Bob Baffert and turns back in distance for the Test.

Two other horses come out of stakes company. Look Forward, the only horse coming out of a top-level race, was second to La Cara in the 1 ⅛-mile Acorn (G1) and turns back in trip for this. Kilwin tried dirt for the first time in the Leslie’s Lady last out at Churchill Downs, winning by 1 ¼ lengths and earning a ticket to a tougher spot on the main track.

The other three step up after allowance-level outings. Me and Molly McGee won a first-level allowance going six furlongs at Churchill Downs on June 22, disputing the pace with Artisma and drawing clear. Artisma re-opposes here. Ragtime, the least experienced horse in the field with just two starts, stalked and pounced to win a seven-furlong allowance at the Spa on July 5.

Test Stakes Contenders

These are the eight entrants for the 2025 Test Stakes, in order of their post draws.

1. Ragtime: With just two starts, she cedes experience to the rest of the field, but when Bill Mott steps such a lightly-raced horse up to the big time, he typically knows what he has. She keeps Junior Alvarado, who rode both her and Beauty Reigns in their last races, suggesting she is the “A” entrant from the barn. The rail can be a thorny draw, but she drew the fence on debut June 6 over the same course and distance as the Test, got a spot tracking the pace, overcame some bumping, and still managed to put the field away, rolling to a 3 ¾-length victory. She faces more experienced horses in this field, but given her tactical speed, adaptability, and the fast fashion in which she has won both of her races, she looks like the new face to watch.
2. Kilwin: At ages two and three, she looked like a very nice turf sprinter for Rusty Arnold. She clicked off two wins in her first two starts at age two, and though she lost her next three, she looked like she was coming back around with a runner-up finish in the Mamzelle (G3) on the Churchill grass in May. Then, Arnold tried her on dirt in the Leslie’s Lady. The daughter of Twirling Candy won in stalk-and-pounce fashion, flashing her best effort yet and making it back to the winner’s circle. She needs another step forward off of that to be a win contender, but even a run back to her work so far makes her a threat for the exotics.
3. Look Forward: This Michael McCarthy trainee has a muddled form, mainly because she has kept jumping between sprints and routes. Focus solely on her sprint efforts, though, and she is undefeated in three starts. Even her defeat last out wasn’t bad—she tracked the pace set by La Cara, who was already a Grade 1 winner at two turns, and held on to beat next-out Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) winner Scottish Lassie for second. In short, focus on what matters most, and a serious contender emerges.
4. Cash Call: This Bob Baffert trainee didn’t have it yet in two starts as a juvenile, but has torn through her three outings at age three. The public figured she should, of course—she was odds-on chalk in all three starts. But, she broke her maiden and cleared her N1X at six furlongs at Santa Anita, then stretched out to win the Summertime Oaks in gritty fashion at 1 1/16 miles. The turnback in distance should be good for her, and she should once again be able to get her stalk-and-pounce trip from a good middle gate. The biggest question mark is Juan Hernandez not getting on the plane to ride, but that even feels like splitting hairs because there’s a different Grade 1 at Del Mar that same day, and Flavien Prat is a more than able pinch hitter.
5. Me and Molly McGee: She didn’t debut until April at Keeneland, but is rounding nicely into form across three starts so far. This Peter Eurton trainee ran a close second on debut at Keeneland, and has since clicked off a pair of victories at Churchill Downs. She shapes as the likely pacesetter in this race—some others like to be close, but none have shown and sustained quite her level of raw speed. The question is how much pressure opponents like Artisma and Echo Sound decide to give her early, as well as whether she wants to stay seven furlongs, as she has never tried past six. She also needs to take a step forward as far as speed figures are concerned.
6. Echo Sound: An emphatic winner of the 6 ½-furlong local prep, Echo Sound showed last out that her loss when she contested the Fern Creek last fall—her only previous try going 6 ½ furlongs—was probably more a question of her campaign catching up to her, or perhaps needing some time to just grow up before trying to go a bit longer. This isn’t an easy ask despite her sparkling form this year—this Rusty Arnold trainee did take a big enough step up from the Miss Preakness (G3) to the Victory Ride to make regression a worry. But, her pedigree appeals for a little more ground, she is tactical enough to either dispute the pace or stalk, and she has proven she likes the Saratoga footing.
7. Artisma: A debut winner at 6 ½ furlongs at Del Mar last fall, she hasn’t won in two starts since but has been competitive – a close second in the seven-furlong Santa Ynez, and a two-length second to Me and Molly McGee in allowance company last out. Her tactical speed from an outside gate is a plus, and she is by top-class extended-sprint sire Munnings. However, in her second start off a layoff of almost six months, she is going to need to take a huge step forward speed-wise to be more than just a pace factor.
8. Beauty Reigns: With seven starts, this Bill Mott trainee is the jointly most experienced horse in the field. She still seeks her first breakthrough at the stakes level, though she was a credible enough second to Echo Sound in the Victory Ride, the local prep, last out. She is the second-stringer from the barn, and loses Junior Alvarado to her stablemate Ragtime, but gets a capable (and high-percentage) replacement in Irad Ortiz, Jr. Her tactical speed is a plus for handling the outside gate, she should have an easy time with the extra half-furlong and her affinity for the local course makes her interesting for a piece if she runs back to her prep race.

Test Stakes FAQ

Q: When is the Test Stakes?

A: The Test Stakes happens on Saturday, August 2, 2025, at 5:04 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. It is the tenth of 13 races on the card, and one of four Grade 1 stakes on the Whitney day card.

Q: Where is the Test Stakes?

A: The race happens at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the Test Stakes?

A: Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons won the Test five times between 1928 and 1963. Among trainers entered in the 2025 edition of the Test, Bob Baffert leads with three wins, most recently with Gamine in 2020, back when the race was known as the Longines Test Stakes due to a sponsorship with Longines. He can win his fourth if Cash Call prevails Saturday.

Q: Who is the favorite for the Test Stakes?

A: Echo Sound, winner of the local prep, is the 9-5 morning-line favorite for the Test Stakes. Off of her dominant wins in both that and the Miss Preakness back in May, she should hold as the post-time favorite for the Test.

Q: Who is the best Test Stakes jockey?

A: Jerry Bailey, now retired, leads all riders with six wins in the Test between 1988 and 2003. Among jockeys with a call in the Test this year, John Velazquez leads with four wins, most recently in 2020 with Gamine. He can win a fifth with long shot Artisma.

Q: Who won the Test Stakes in 2024?

A: Ways and Means, trained by Chad Brown and ridden by Flavien Prat, won the 2024 Test. Brown does not have a horse in the race this year, but Prat takes the reins of Cash Call for Bob Baffert.

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