Echo Sound, Ragtime drop in class for Saturday's Dogwood

Saturday’s strong 11-race program at Churchill Downs will feature four stakes races, headlined by the Grade 3, $300,000 Dogwood Stakes. The program also includes the $300,000 Bourbon Trail, $300,000 Harrods Creek and $175,000 Seneca Overnight Stakes.

The Dogwood is led by two fillies exiting last month’s Test Stakes (G1) at Saratoga: Echo Sound and Ragtime.

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Echo Sound, made the 6-5 morning-line favorite after finishing sixth in the Test, tuned up for Saturday’s race at Keeneland, working a half-mile in 47.8 seconds on Sept. 12 outside stablemate Glamorama. Florent Geroux, who was aboard for the drill, will ride from the rail for trainer Rusty Arnold and owner Gabriel Duignan.

Ragtime will remove blinkers following her runner-up effort in the Test. She worked without them during a half-mile move in 50.8 seconds on Sept. 15 at Churchill Downs while outside stablemate Cabaletta. Bill Mott trains Ragtime for Godolphin.

Delightful Claire did not run in the Test but broke her maiden at the same seven-furlong distance on the same day at Saratoga, drawing off by 9 1/4 lengths in 1:22.77, .33 seconds faster than the Test. Phil Bauer trains Delightful Claire for Rigney Racing.

“We’ll see if she can back up that maiden win,” trainer Phil Bauer said. “She ran huge that day and the final time was faster than the field went in the Test. But she needs to back that up against this field.”