3 Best Bets to Win the 2025 Test Stakes

Key Takeaways:

• Look Forward thrives at seven furlongs and gets back to her preferred distance with a strong stalk-and-pounce style.
• Echo Sound is consistent and proven over the Spa surface, but stretches to seven furlongs for the first time.
• Kilwin impressed on dirt debut and offers upside second time on the surface with tactical versatility.
• All three picks offer value or form edges in a competitive, pace-influenced field.

The most important race of the summer in the sophomore filly sprint division is the Grade 1, $500,000 Test Stakes on Saturday, August 2 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. The seven-furlong dirt race drew a field of eight headlined by Echo Sound, winner of the Miss Preakness (G3) and the Victory Ride (G3) leading into the Test.

It won’t be easy, however. Look Forward turns back to a distance she loves, and is already a Grade 2 winner at. Cash Call ships across the country and cuts back to a sprint after a two-turn stakes win. Kilwin switched to dirt for the first time last out and emerged a stakes winner. Ragtime, who makes her graded-stakes debut, looks like a rising star for Bill Mott. In short, the field is exciting, and the future in this division is bright.

The Test is the 10th of 13 races Saturday at Saratoga Race Course, with post time scheduled for 5:04 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race is the fourth of five graded stakes on the card, and the third of four at the top level. Other important races on the card include the Whitney (G1), Fourstardave (G1), Saratoga Derby (G1), and Saratoga Special (G2)—it is a full day of top-class betting action, and you can watch and wager on it all through FanDuel.

These are the three best bets for the Test Stakes:

1. Look Forward (2025 Test Stakes odds: 8-1)

This Michael McCarthy trainee tried the Kentucky Oaks trail, but two-turn races were beyond what she wanted to do, at least back in the winter and spring. However, seven furlongs was right up her alley: she won the Santa Ynez at Santa Anita in her first try at the distance, and looked strong winning the Eight Belles (G2) on the Kentucky Oaks undercard when she turned back to it. She finished second in the 1 ⅛-mile Acorn last out, her best two-turn try yet, and a suggestion of improving form. But now, she turns back to a specialist distance that she clearly loves.

In terms of pace, she should be able to get a good tactical trip. In both of her wins at this distance, she was able to work a stalk-and-pounce trip, something she should be able to do again. And, from a betting perspective, she has a good chance of being an overlay on the tote board because the muddling of her form between her longer races and her one-turn efforts obscures the fact that she gets to run her best game this time.

2. Echo Sound (2025 Test Stakes odds: 9-5)

She has never run a bad race in six starts, and five of those races have been wins—so, in short, she is a very consistent horse. She has a draw toward the outside of a moderately-sized field, and she regularly gets a stalking or tracking trip, meaning she has a running style that should play well in this race. Luis Saez, her jockey for her last three starts, returns to the irons. And, she comes into the race off a win in the Victory Ride (G3) on July 3, the local prep—something that testifies both to her good form and her ability to handle the footing at the Spa.

The biggest question for her is the distance—she has never stretched out past 6 ½ furlongs. She won at that distance last out and even her lone loss at that trip wasn’t a bad effort, and may have been just a demanding two-year-old season catching up with her. It’s worth asking that question at the short price, especially since there are several entrants who have done very well at this distance already, but in the balance, it is not a deal-breaker. After all, horses who stretch out successfully from the flat six to 6 ½ furlongs often take well to seven, and her pedigree raises no questions about being able to handle going this far.

3. Kilwin (2025 Test Stakes odds: 6-1)

Kilwin was looking like a very nice turf sprinter—she won the Untapable at Kentucky Downs last year and finished second behind Shisospicy in the Mamzelle (G3) at Churchill Downs in May. Then, the next month, Rusty Arnold tried Kilwin in the seven-furlong Leslie’s Lady on the Churchill dirt. She ran her best race so far, rallying from a few lengths off the pace and taking over to win by 1 ¼ lengths. Suddenly, after that first try on dirt, she was looking like a very nice dirt sprinter, too.

This is a deeper field than she faced in that ungraded race in Louisville. However, she has a lot of upside second-time dirt. She is tactically versatile, able to run well from a tracking, midpack, or even closing spot. She gets a rider change to Jose Ortiz, who has started the Saratoga Springs meet red-hot. And, even though she is drawn toward the inside, she has drawn near the inside several times before and been able to navigate it well. All this adds up to a horse with significant upside despite the fact that she is likely to get away with less betting action than she should take given that upside.

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