Saratoga: Echo Sound wins Victory Ride on 1st day of festival
Echo Sound powered home a 4 1/4-length winner Thursday in the Grade 3, $175,000 Victory Ride Stakes, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for four 3-year-old fillies on opening day of the July 4 racing festival at Saratoga.
The win was a special one for Echo Sound’s trainer Rusty Arnold, who conditioned Victory Ride through a 9: 5-1-2 record that included a score in the 2001 Test (G1) over eventual Hall of Famer Xtra Heat at the Spa.
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“She was the fastest horse I ever had, so to win a race they named after you, it’s a good feeling,” Arnold said.
Owned by Gabriel Duignan, Echo Sound will make Saratoga her home base as she looks to stretch another half-furlong and replicate Victory Ride’s famous score when she takes on the seven-furlong Test on Aug. 2.
“She took the six-and-a-half well, so not a big difference. Somewhat different, but I think she’ll take to it,” Arnold said.
Echo Sound broke to the lead from post 3 under Luis Saez before settling to track the early foot of Hollygrove through a half-mile in 44.85 seconds over the fast main track. Beauty Reigns saved ground in third to the inside of last-out Jersey Girl winner Indy Bay.
Saez gave Echo Sound her cue into the turn, and the filly responded in kind to overtake the pacesetter and open up a 1 1/2-length advantage at the stretch call. The daughter of Echo Town separated from the field down the lane under a strong hand ride and surged through the wire to win with a time of 1:15.49.
Beauty Reigns tipped off the rail and closed to complete the exacta by 4 3/4-lengths over Indy Bay with Hollygrove rounding out the order of finish. Whatintheliteral, who was a vet scratch after she flipped in the paddock, walked back to the barn area under own power.
“She always breaks so well. Today she broke on top, but we always wait to follow somebody, and she settled perfectly,” Saez said. “When we came to the three-eighths I had a lot of horse. Came to the top of the stretch, she was in cruise control.”
Echo Sound won 3 of 4 starts as a 2-year-old, taking the Myrtlewood in October at Keeneland before a runner-up effort in the Fern Creek in November at Churchill Downs to close out her campaign. She returned a winner in the Miss Preakness (G3) on May 16 at Pimlico, driving clear to a two-length score that earned a career-best 85 Beyer Speed Figure, according to Daily Racing Form.
Arnold said Echo Sound has shown improvement with each start.
“The race was tougher I think today, and she took a step forward, so very, very happy,” Arnold said. “She was a pretty good 2-year-old. She got beat once, and the reason she got beat (was) she had a little issue. We turned her out, gave her the winter off, and I think she has taken a couple steps forward. We’re going to need one more step forward for the next one.”
Duignan, who bred Echo Sound in Kentucky at his Springhouse Farm along with Vision TBs, Bruce Pieratt and Patricia Pieratt, said he was pleased with the way the filly stepped up in her Spa debut.
“I was confident, but she was up against good fillies, and it was Saratoga,” Duignan said. “I think she has won on five different tracks now, but you never know. You are never overconfident, but we were hoping for a good run. That was a bit better than we expected.
“I just thought, though she has had a great career so far, and she’s been so consistent. Today was her best race. She is getting better every run. When I saw (the fractions), I said we aren’t going to be able to stay up there, but Saez just had loads of horse at the end.”
Echo Sound banked $96,250 in victory while improving her record to 6: 5-1-0. She returned $5.00 for a $2 win bet. Echo Sound, a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Pick of the Litter, is out of the late Fusaichi Pegasus mare Eagle Sound, a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Wild Syn.