SARATOGA SPRINGS — In her first start at Saratoga Race Course, Indian Blessing nearly set a track record, winning her career debut last summer.

She didn’t come close in her

return on Saturday, not that it mattered.

Heavily favored at 2-5, Indian Blessing easily disposed of an overmatched field, drawing away effortlessly to win the Grade I Test Stakes by seven lengths.

Sweet Hope overcame some trouble in the paddock to run second, three lengths in front of 20-1 long shot Ms. Margaret H.

Ridden by meet leader John Velazquez, Indian Blessing ($2.80) covered seven furlongs in 1:22.70, winning for the seventh time in nine lifetime starts.

It was the second straight Grade I

and fourth overall win for the

3-year-old daughter of Indian Charlie, who won the Eclipse Award as the top juvenile filly of 2007.

“That was fun, wasn’t it?” trainer Bob Baffert said. “She’s getting better, so we’re excited about her.

“She’s getting better with every race. She’s’ relaxing, finally. Before, she would bottom out and just run them off their feet. As she gets older, she’s maturing.”

Wearing khakis nearly as white as his hair, Baffert, who also trained champion fillies Chilukki and Silverbulletday, had flashbacks as he saw Indian Blessing come flying down the stretch without a challenger in sight.

“It’s fun to be in this situation, especially when you have a 2-year-old champion,” he said. “We thought maybe she was just a 2-year-old, but now she’s picking it up. Today, she really reminded me of all the great fillies I’ve trained, the Chilukkis and Silverbulletdays and all the good ones.”

The only anxious moment for Baffert came before the gates sprung open. Indian Blessing got out well, finding herself running three wide to the right of pace-setter Palanka City and J Z Warrior.

“I was just worried about the break,” he said. “I can usually tell when I’m saddling them how they’re doing, and she looked fantastic in the paddock. When she broke clean, I thought, ‘There’s no excuses now.’ ”

Palanka City led through fractions of :22.62 and :45.33 with

Indian Blessing alongside after J Z Warrior checked out of contention. Velazquez began moving up at the quarter pole, and Indian Blessing took the lead without resistance.

“She broke good, stayed in the middle of the track in the first part of the race and by the three-eighths pole, I just gave her her head,” Velazquez said. “She was all there.”

Indian Blessing won her first five starts by more than 14 combined lengths, including her debut here last Aug. 30, when she ran 51⁄2 furlongs in 1:01.27 — .13 off the record set two days earlier by her former stablemate, J Be K.

She ran second in back-to-back races before rebounding in the Grade I Prioress last month at

Belmont Park, her first time under Velazquez.

“We talked about it the other day,” Baffert said. “Just let her break and maybe you can do the same thing she did last time. I knew she was going to drag him up there near the lead, but it was one of those races where she just really put it all together.

“You could tell he had her on cruise control and when he turned her loose, she’s showing that different acceleration now, which is really fantastic.”

Prior to the race, Sweet Hope, trained by Larry Jones, bucked out of her stall in the paddock before being saddled.

Moments later, she almost flipped and nearly struck her head on the digital clock that shows minutes remaining to post time.

“I thought she ran great,” jockey Ramon Dominguez said. “She had a good trip. I tried to follow the winner, and we were just second-best.”

The victory held an extra meas­ure of satisfaction for Baffert. In the 2000 Test, Chilukki stumbled coming out the gate and nearly unseated jockey Shane Sellers, rushing up to the lead. She wound up sixth as the favorite.

“Chilukki was a sweetheart,” Baffert said. “She had horrible luck here. It was disastrous. I needed the Test. I didn’t have the Test, and now we’ve got the Test.”