Coglianese /NYRA Photo Photo

Fan favorite Voodoo Song wins fifth straight at Saratoga in G1 Fourstardave

by Anthony Affrunti

Barry K. Schwartz's Voodoo Song refused to be denied in the stretch, holding off a late-charging Delta Prince to win the Grade 1, $500,000 Fourstardave Handicap by a neck under jockey Jose Lezcano in 1:35.96 for the one-mile stakes over the inner turf listed as good on Saturday.

The victory by the 4-year-old son of English Channel was his fifth straight at Saratoga Race Course after he scored four straight wins during the 2017 meet, highlighted by his neck victory over Yoshida in the Grade 3 Saranac. The Linda Rice-trained New York-bred has never been headed in all five local starts and captured his first Grade 1 victory in the Fourstardave.

“It’s very exciting,” said Rice. “It’s hard to move up on what he did last year here with winning four races. It was an unbelievable meet and so special to all of us. I think he got a lot of fans here by winning so many races at Saratoga, so it’s exciting to come back. What do you do next? Win the Fourstardave. It’s just fantastic.”

Rice opted not to enter the $100,000 Fasig-Tipton Lure, originally scheduled for last Saturday, and instead pointed to the Fourstardave with hopes that wet weather would subside, and the turf courses would dry, giving Voodoo Song his preferred firm ground. Early rain downgraded the turf to good, but the softer ground proved no match for Voodoo Song.

“He ran so well last year on a firm course,” Rice said. “We’ve had nothing but rain for two weeks here, so I was very concerned about it. With other speed in the race as well, Heart to Heart was a concern. But our Plan A was to go to the lead and establish the [speed] from the beginning. Jose Lezcano rode him beautifully, and here we are.”

From the break, Voodoo Song ricocheted to the lead under Lezcano, who had been aboard for all four starts last year. The field of five took up pursuit heading into the clubhouse turn and, with a first quarter run in 23.53 seconds, Voodoo Song maintained a three-length advantage over Heart to Heart, while it was another three lengths back to Made You Look who held a length over Yoshida, Delta Prince and a trailing Divisidero.

The field remained in that order as Voodoo Song extended his advantage to five lengths down the backside with a half-mile in 46.89. The field began to chase the pacesetter heading into the turn, and Voodoo Song's lead was down to a length as Yoshida was in search of running room and Delta Prince was beginning to make his move under Hall of Fame rider Javier Castellano. The field hit the top of the stretch and, with three-quarters of the mile run in 1:11.20, Voodoo Song was sent in an all-out drive. Delta Prince came on to his outside, and they went stride-for-stride to the wire, with Voodoo Song holding on to victory by a neck. Delta Prince finished two lengths over Divisidero and Made You Look was a length behind in fourth.

“The first eighth of a mile, I was a little concerned,” said Rice. “But as soon as they got to the turn, Jose had established the lead and he had everything the way we wanted it. When they put up the fractions on this soft turf, I was concerned. When they came to him at the three-eighths pole, I didn’t know how he’d handle that. In the past, he really fought off the competition. [Today,] I was really thrilled with him in the stretch. He just dug in and he wouldn’t be denied.”

The key to the front-running score was to let the chestnut colt have his way in the early running, according to Lezcano, who piloted his fifth victory for the meet.

“He’s fast out of the gate and you always want to let him do whatever he wants to do, Lezcano said." "That’s the thing with him, and he keeps going. I leave him alone, you don’t want to fight with him. The longer you leave him in the bridle, the better he is. I felt confident all the way around. Let him do whatever he wants to do.

“I waited on the inside closer to the rail and when I saw the Number 2 [Delta Prince], I came outside a little bit, so he could see him and he rebroke again. He kept going and wouldn’t let him pass,” he added.

Delta Prince's trainer Jimmy Jerkens was another who was concerned with the weather forecast leading up to the race.

“It looked like he had him, but he couldn’t go by,” Jerkens said. “It’s hard to say, but I thought he’d be a little closer. Maybe he wouldn’t have had to swing him out so wide if he was laying a little closer, but I don’t know. He didn’t break all that great and that didn’t help. He kind of hesitated a little bit. It didn’t look like he liked [soft ground] last year and it didn’t look like it at the end today either. It looked like he was giving out.”

Voodoo Song ended his sophomore season with a second-place finish in the Grade 3 Commonwealth Derby at Laurel and a fifth-place finish in the Hawthorne Derby. He placed fourth against allowance level competitors at Aqueduct to begin his 2018 campaign then won by a nose at Belmont before finishing third behind Oscar Performance in the Grade 3 Poker at Belmont. His wire-to-wire style returned in the Forbidden Apple at Belmont, which he won by a length.

“He has matured as a 4-year-old. I was really pleased with his races at Belmont,” Rice said. “He ran well in the Poker coming from off the pace. He ran a really gritty seven furlongs in an allowance, he won the Forbidden Apple, and [today], it just couldn’t have worked out better.”

The legendary Fourstardave, otherwise known as the “Sultan of Saratoga,” became a fan favorite when he won at least one race per season between 1987-1994 over the hallowed track. Now with five straight impressive victories at Saratoga, including a Grade 3 and Grade 1 at Saratoga, Rice acknowledges Voodoo Song has developed quite a fan following as well.

“Who better to win the Fourstardave than a horse who is obviously a Saratoga star?” she said.

Rounding out the finish was Yoshida and Heart to Heart. Main track-only entrant Weekend Hideaway was scratched.

Voodoo Song, off at 6-1, returned $15.40 for a $2 wager.