The Test Stakes, Purse $500.000, Grade 1, 7 Furlongs, Dirt for 3 Year Old Fillies

Today at Saratoga is a big day of racing and the highlight of the day is the Whitney Stakes that will be run later. Just because the Whitney is the biggest race of the day doesn’t mean that this race should be over looked either as this is a very nice race to try and separate the best 3 year old filly sprinters. There is a nice field of 6 signed on for this race, and each of these horses will be looking for their first Grade 1 stakes win. This should be an interesting race, let’s take a look at the field:

1-Dying For Iron (MB Stables)- She comes into the race having won 6 of her 12 races and earning just over $352.000. She is a Grade 2 stakes winner, which she just won 2 races back, and is also a multiple stakes winner. Going into her last race she was on a very impressive 3 race win streak when she stepped up to the Grade 1 Acorn where she finished 9^th of 12 horses, but that was a very tough field and was at a mile which does not appear to be her preferred distance as she has not ever won going a route of ground. She gets back to the 7f trip today that she has already proved that she has liked when winning the Grade 2 Beaumont at Keenland in April. She comes into the race training well for this race so I have no doubt that she is ready to roll and fire a big race this weekend and I think will be one of the betting choices in the race

2-Babatime (Sanny Village)- She has won 2 out of 9 races in her career but has hit the board in 8 out of 9 races winning almost $94.000. Both of her wins do come sprinting on the dirt, including a nice win in her last start going 6 furlongs at Monmouth in June in a very nice time. She has yet to run 7f in her career and this is also her first attempt in any type of stakes race. Owner Sanny Village must be very high on her to jump directly into the deep end with her. In typical Sanny Village fashion there are very little public works for me to go off of, however she does look like she has turned the corner as she has posted her fastest public 6f work her last work July 13^th at Belmont which was second fastest of the day. Does this mean she is ready to break out and get a Grade 1 win?

3-Dashboard Rahy (Australia Wide)- She comes into the race in very nice form winning her last 2 starts and 3 out of 5 lifetime starts, with earnings of just over $67.000. She has also never missed the board in any of her 5 starts. In her last 2 starts she has won a state-bred overnight stakes race at ALB and then followed it up with an N1x win at Woodbine in June at today’s distance. Those 2 wins were the only 2 starts for current owner Australia Wide and she looks to go a perfect 3 for 3 since the purchase, but is stepping up in a major way today.   In the only public work she has since her last win she was fastest of 33 at DMR going 5 furlongs on dirt in a nice time. This shows me that she is ready to keep rolling along and could very well fit in this group.

4-Chili Time (Rockitpad)- She is kind of an all or nothing type horse, winning 3 of her 8 races but finishing off the board in the other 5 races but still earning just over $257.000. She is a very fast multiple graded stakes winner winning both a Grade 3 and a Grade 2 race. She most recently won a Grade 3 race going today’s route of ground at GP on July 5^th against one of her opponents in today’s race.   All of her public works are fastest and looking back through her public works they always have seemed to be this way. She had a very nice work on July 29^th where she was fastest of 29 going 6 furlongs on the dirt where she equaled her fastest public work time over that distance. The work shows me she may be ready and she has put a 2 race win streak together in the past…….can she do it again?

5-Sense Of Stile (Cajun Stables) She comes into the race winning 5 out of 10 races while earning an impressive $433.560. All 5 of her wins have come sprinting on the dirt while she has tried different trips in her past 2 starts. She is a 4 time stakes winner in her life, all of these stakes have been of the state-bred variety but that is still and impressive feat. She is also a perfect 1 for 1 at today’s distance so she has proven she can get this tricky distance. After the 4 stakes wins she stepped up to try 2 Grade 1 races where she finished 2^nd in both of them, however as I said earlier neither were doing what she has proven to do best which is sprinting on dirt. Her public works are solid but not eye popping. Can getting back to what she has proved to do best get her over the hump and get her a Grade 1 victory?

6-Yennenga (Wynnewood)- She has won 4 of her 7 lifetime starts and has only missed the board on 1 occasion. She started off her career in great fashion winning her first 2 races then we sold for a nice price of $250.000. She then has tried 3 stakes race which she has come up short in but has won and OC and N1x race. The interesting thing with this horse is she has run every time going 7 furlongs on dirt and has never tried anything else. She does not have any public works showing since her last race which was a 2^nd place finish in the Carry Back on July 5^th so it is hard to say if she is ready to make a big jump forward and win this tough Grade 1 race. I guess we will find out how well she has been training on the farm later today.

These are the types of races that can get anyone excited because there could possibly be some future stars who are ready to start there assent to the top of the filly and mare sprint division for this year and for years to come. I think that the winner of this race has to feel confident that they will be on bigger and better things……..and possibly the Breeders Cup! Here is my prediction. 4-1-2-3

Warbucks

Categories: Grade I