Test Score Wins Belmont Derby for Amermans, Motion

Owner/breeder John Amerman didn't need fireworks to have an explosive Fourth of July at Saratoga Race Course. He owns Test Score. In one fell swoop, the homebred son of Lookin At Lucky notched a couple of impressive milestones by surging to victory in the $750,000 Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T) for 3-year-olds. The victory pushed Test Score's earnings past the $1 million mark for trainer Graham Motion and also turned "30" into a lucky number for the Amerman family. "The nice part is that this is our 30th grade 1 win," Amerman said. "It proves that if you stay in this business long enough some good things can happen." The victory was the second in row for Amerman Racing and Motion in the grade 1 stakes as they captured the 2024 Belmont Derby with Trikari. "To win this race two years in a row for Mr. Amerman, when I haven't trained for him very long, that's pretty cool," Motion said. This one was sweeter for the owners as Test Score was bred by Mrs. Jerry Amerman out of the Kitten's Joy mare Joy of Learning. "He's an awesome horse. He fools you. He kind of loafs around and then in midstretch (jockey Manny Franco) clicks to him. When Manny rides him, he does well," Amerman said. Franco was aboard Test Score in his two previous races, when he won the Transylvania Stakes (G3T) and then finished second in the May 3 American Turf Stakes (G1T) at Churchill Downs. "He's such a cool horse. Distance doesn't matter to him," Motion said after the colt's initial grade 1 win. "We started pointing for this race after (the American Turf)." In the American Turf, Test Score was second by 1 1/4 lengths to favored Zulu Kingdom (IRE), who won the Manila Stakes (G3T) in the previous race at the Spa Friday for his sixth win in seven career starts. "I was really hoping to not run against (Zulu Kingdom), which worked out," Motion said. "He showed the form was very legitimate by winning (the Manila). They are two nice horses." On a holiday card kind to speed at the Spa, Tank set the pace in the Belmont Derby through fractions of :23.66 and :47.79 with 2-1 favorite New Century (GB), who was a nose behind Test Score in the American Turf, showing unusual early speed in second. Test Score was about two lengths back in third. Tank spurted away to a 2 1/2-length lead at the eighth pole, but Franco angled Test Score five wide in the stretch and powered to the front at the sixteenth pole to win by 1 1/4 lengths. The 3-1 third choice ($8.60) covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:45.56, just.50 off the track record. "I had the trip I wanted," Franco said. "I knew he was there for me." As the early speedsters faded, Pin Oak Stud's World Beater, a son of Oscar Performance from the barn of trainer Riley Mott, was second by a nose over Paul Hickman and Nicholas Jones' Luther (GB), a son of Frankel (GB) making his United States debut. The win was the third in eight career starts for Test Score and lifted his earnings to $1,074,025. Motion said Test Score would likely return in the New York Racing Association's second of three summer turf stakes for 3-year-olds, the Aug. 2 Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T). Paid attendance for Friday's card was 16,429 with a strong all-sources handle of $25,008,670, NYRA reported.