Test Stakes at Saratoga
Las Vegas, NV - Saratoga Raceway in upstate New York will be a busy place this Saturday August 25 - Travers Day will include a number of Grade 1 races including the Grade 1 Test Stakes - a seven furlong "test" for three year old fillies. A very nice purse of $500,000 is on the line for some of the best three year old females in the land.
The Test Stakes has drawn a field of 10 females for race 10 on Saratoga's insanely packed Saturday card. Post time is 4:38 PM. Here is a look at the credentials of those 10 fillies and what brought them to this Grade 1 event.
2012 Test Stakes Race Favorites
Contested - Bob Baffert trained Contested has only six career starts with four wins and a second place finish - four straight wins going into the Mother Goose where she finished an uncharacteristic last in a five horse field. After an overwhelming win against an Allowance field on April 15, she was able to prove that her results weren't a fluke. Contested went on to win the Grade 3 Eight Belles Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 4 in very impressive fashion and then won the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes by five lengths on May 28. Contested will be looking to shake the bad result last time out and is definitely the horse to watch in the Test.
Book Review - Chad Brown trained filly will be making her stakes debut on Saturday after two wins, two seconds - one being a race that the impressive Questing won and a third place finish in five career starts. She has looked very good but the Test Stakes marks an enormous step up in competition.
Test Stakes 2012 | Remaining Field Entries
Aubby K - has only five career starts with two wins and a third place finish. Her graded stakes action resulted in a reasonable fourth in the Grade 2 Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs in October, a decent third in the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes at Belmont on May 28 and an OK fourth last time out in the Grade 2 Delaware Oaks. Aubby K may not have the results of Contested but she figures to "test" the field on Saturday.
Amie's Dini - looked good at Oaklawn in 2012 - a win in the Martha Washington Stakes and seconds in the Grade 2 Fantasy Stakes, the Grade 3 Honeybee on March 10 and the Dixie Belle Stakes on January 14. The last two starts have resulted in an eighth in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks in May and a third last time out in the Grade 2 Delaware Oaks on July 14.
Beautiful But Blue - has won five of her last six starts - the only blemish over that span being a fifth in the Windswept Wings Stakes. She has five wins in nine starts - those wins all coming over the last nine months. Beautiful But Blue is certainly in top form and is one that could surprise on Saturday.
Test Stakes betting at Saratoga with OffTrackBetting.com
Gypsy Robin - had won three straight starts before a sixth last time out in the Grade 3 Victory Ride at Belmont on July 7. Her wins during the streak included the Grade 2 Beaumont Stakes at Keeneland on March 15, the Inaugural Stakes at Presque Isle Downs on May 15 and the Sorority Stakes at Monmouth Park on September 5 of 2011.
Jazzy Idea - has three wins and three seconds in seven starts this year with a fourth last time out in her graded stakes debut being the only blemish. Among the wins are the Thirty Flags Stakes at Belmont and the Crank It Up Stakes at Monmouth.
Ullapool - will make her stakes debut on Saturday after three wins and a second place finish in nine career starts.
Well Kept - will be making her graded stakes debut after two seconds, a fourth and a third place finish in four straight minor stakes races. Last time out was a third on this track in the Mandys Gold Stakes.
Yara - looked promising after an upset win in the Davona Dale Stakes on February 25 after a fourth at the Grade 2 Forward Gal Stakes at Gulfstream. But Yara followed up her impressive win with a disappointing fifth in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Oaks, an unbelievable thirteenth in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks and a third in the minor Leave Me Alone Stakes at Calder on June 9. Last time out was another disappointing result - a sixth in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks here on July 27.
2012 Test Stakes Entries & Odds
Race 10 on Saratoga's Saturday card with a Post Time of 4:38 PM.
Post | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | ML Odds |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Well Kept | I. Ortiz, Jr. | L. Gyarmati | |
2 | Aubby K | E. Prado | R. Nicks | |
3 | Book Review | J. Castellano | C. Brown | |
4 | Yara | R. Napravnik | J. Guerrero | |
5 | Beautiful But Blue | J. Alvarado | T. Bush | |
6 | Jazzy Idea | J. Lezcano | E. Merryman | |
7 | Gypsy Robin | J. Velazquez | W. Ward | |
8 | Contested | R. Bejarano | B. Baffert | |
9 | Ullapool | J. Rosario | E. Kenneally | |
10 | Amie's Dini | D. Cohen | R. Moquett |