Wild Finish in The Test

By Nynl Stables on August 5, 2023

The Test (Grade 1)- $500.000 Purse
SAR- For Fillies Three Years Old
Seven Furlongs on the Dirt
August 5, 2023

We would have a fantastic finish in The Test, with a five-way photo finish at the wire and a total of seven horses being within a length at the wire. Prevailing in this very tight battle at the wire would be Devils Bride, out of the red-hot Fractious. She was one of three runners that the trainer had in the field, and we went with one of her stablemates in the preview. That said, Devils Bride has always been a consistent horse at the wire, and with a little more luck at the wire may have had two more graded wins this year. Based on that, perhaps the virtual racing gods owed her one here, as this time she would get the head bob at the wire to secure the victory! It’s the second win in the Test for Fractious, as he also won in 2020, coming with Hawaiian Crusader. Jockey A Cedillo was aboard and wins for the first time in this stake. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:22.11. Let’s take a look at it!

(1/4 Mile- :22.44)- Empire Sunset breaks sharply from her outside post, putting one of the Fractious horses in the lead early. After about two lengths, Black Moon Concerto runs in the second spot, still in her outside lane, for TwinTowersRacing, though she eventually crosses over soon after hitting this mark. Parade Leader runs third for Fractious with Sigatoka to her inside for Bears Stable. Next in line, and about four lengths from the front, is where we have our eventual winner, Devils Bride, from Fractious. Running right beside her in the middle of the field is Maxmillion Farm’s Lucky Star. Siouxbiscuit is next while riding the rail for Mb Stables, then it’s Toppifiant (Our Athletes) and Bay The Lady (Mb Stables). After a length and a half, the three trailers: White Russian (Axeman), Spring Street (High Voltage), and Sunsweet Star (Smokey Stover) run alongside one another.

(1/2 Mile- :45.80, Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- Empire Sunset leads down the backstretch and during the turn, but entering the stretch, she’s looking vulnerable. Black Moon Concerto still runs second but has only made very slight progress on the leader, and the bigger advance from a horse near the front would be out of Parade Leader, who looked to be about to take over second. Devils Bride went back and forth under the guidance of A Cedillo as to whether or not she wanted to go four wide or not, and Cedillo would commit to this move on exit of the turn. She’s inched a full length ahead of both Sigatoka and Lucky Star, and we had not seen a push from Siouxbiscuit yet. Bay The Lady and Toppifiant were waiting for the right time to strike as well. Spring Street would make an advance, but neither White Russian nor Sunsweet Star would.

(Finish- 1:22.11)- The field tightens up in a hurry in the stretch, and with a furlong to go, there were probably only three horses that were hopeless: White Russian, Sunsweet Star, and the pacesetter, Empire Sunset. Parade Leader is the first one to make a pass for the lead, but her stablemate, Devils Bride was coming on very well on the outside. But you also could not forget about Siouxbiscuit, who had plenty of room on the rail. Toppifiant and Lucky Star were also looking good as very clearly, we had a fantastic finish in the making. The result would be a very close photo between a bunch of them, as over half the field finished this one within a length of the winner. On top here would be Devils Bride, ever so narrowly over Siouxbiscuit, Toppifiant, and Bay The Lady. Amazingly, there were no dead heats anywhere in the running order. Lucky Star gets shutout of the earnings despite narrowly missing. Parade Leader and the hard charging Spring Street were also within a length. Rounding it out, it’s Black Moon Concerto, White Russian, Sigatoka, Empire Sunset, and the race’s post time favorite, Sunsweet Star.

About The Winner- Devils Bride, trained by Fractious and ridden to victory by A Cedillo, is a three-year-old filly by Neon Wolf, and is out of Magical River. She was bred in Ontario as a yearling by Fractious, the only trainer for which she has ever known. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her fourth in 15 starts, her second stake win and first graded win. Her career earnings are now $590.700.

Horse Name

Owner Name

Jockey

Odds

Fin

Time

SRF

Devils Bride

Fractious

Cedillo A

7.50

1^no