Echo Sound's Victory Ride Win Doubles Arnold's Joy

For trainer Rusty Arnold, a July 3 victory in the $162,750 Victory Ride Stakes (G3) at Saratoga Race Course was doubly rewarding. Primarily, the 4 1/4-length victory by Gabriel "Spider" Duignan's homebred Echo Sound in the sprint stakes for 3-year-old fillies gave him a bona fide contender for the Aug. 2 Test Stakes (G1) at the Spa. "She was a pretty good 2-year-old. She got beat once and the reason she got beat was that she had a little issue," Arnold said. "We gave her the winter off and she's taken a couple steps forward. We'll need one more step for the next one (the Test), but I am sure that's what we'll do." Adding to Arnold's pleasure, he was also the trainer of Victory Ride, who won the 2001 Test for owner G. Watts Humphrey Jr. "She was the fastest horse I ever trained," Arnold said about Victory Ride. "So, to win a race named after her, it's a good feeling." Arnold will feel even better if Echo Sound can emulate Victory Ride and win the Test. The seven-furlong grade 1 stakes will mark the daughter of Echo Town's first race beyond Thursday's 6 1/2-furlong distance, though the manner in which she drew clear in the final furlong bodes well for her chances in the Test. "She took the 6 1/2 well, so it's not a big difference," Arnold said. "It's somewhat different but I think she'll take it." The victory on the opening day of the July 4th Racing Festival at the Spa was the second in two 2025 starts for Echo Sound, who won the Miss Preakness Stakes (G3) at Pimlico Race Course in her last try and has captured five of six career starts. Echo Sound ($5) showed more speed than usual in the four-horse Victory Ride, chasing pacesetting Hollygrove through a half-mile in a quick :44.85. She put the 11-1 longshot away turning for home and led by 1 1/2 lengths at the eighth pole before drawing off. The 3-2 favorite covered the 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:15.49 under Luis Saez. "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," Duignan said. "I was confident, but she was up against good fillies, and it was Saratoga. You don't know. 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." Tranquility Lake Farms' Beauty Reigns, a daughter of Into Mischief trained by Bill Mott, was second by 4 3/4 lengths over C Two Racing Stable, Paul Braverman, and Timothy Pinch's Indy Bay, a Take Charge Indy filly trained by Saffie Joseph Jr. Bred by Duignan's Springhouse Farm, Vision TBs, and Bruce and Patricia Pieratt, Echo Sound was the final foal out of the Fusaichi Pegasus mare Eagle Sound and increased her earnings to $459,995. Her sire Echo Town, a grade 1-winning son of Speightstown, stands at Ashford Stud near Lexington. His 2025 fee was $5,000.