NYRA/Coglianese Photo

Rice eyes Breeders’ Cup road map after Voodoo Song stays undefeated at Saratoga with G1 Fourstardave win

by NYRA Press Office

• G1 Travers-bound Gronkowski works on Spa main track
• Oscar Performance sent to Rood and Riddle as precaution; Heart to Heart looks for better conditions after detesting soft turf in Fourstardave
• G2 Jim Dandy hero Tenfold works five furlongs for Travers
• Cathedral Reader breezes Sunday for stakes debut in G2 Prioress
• Vino Rosso ‘happy with himself’ following Travers breeze
• Swamp Rat, Yes and Yes stepping up to stakes company in Friday’s Skidmore

Rice eyes Breeders’ Cup roadmap after Voodoo Song stays undefeated at Saratoga with G1 Fourstardave win

Barry K. Schwartz’s Voodoo Song came out of his gate-to-wire win in the Grade 1 Fourstardave Handicap in good order, trainer Linda Rice said Sunday morning. The 4-year-old English Channel colt bested a six-horse field over a one-mile inner turf course that has taken heavy rain throughout the Saratoga meet, earning his first career Grade 1 win.

“He came out of the race really well and is happy and healthy this morning,” Rice said. 

The Fourstardave featured other contenders with speed, including Heart to Heart, but Voodoo Song was sent to the lead by jockey Jose Lezcano before fending off Delta Prince’s stretch-drive charge to win by a neck.

“If it’s a speed horse, people think that you should be nursing him or easing him back to the rest of the field, but in some cases that works against you,” Rice said. “Establishing a clear lead can be a positive thing. When he was five [lengths] in front [after a half-mile], I said ‘I hope this works on the soft turf.’ We were a little concerned with fractions with the turf yielding, but he’s a real fighter and he got there first.”

The win by Lezcano was the first of two stakes on the day, as the jockey piloted Inspector Lynley to a victory in the Fasig-Tipton Lure later in the card. Rice credited Lezcano with knowing Voodoo Song’s strengths.

“At the three-eighths pole, the whole field was closing in on him and he responded well. Around the turn, once Jose switched to his right lead, he finished up nicely,” she said. “I thought Jose Lezcano rode him fantastic. He knows the horse well; he has a few quirks and likes to lug in a little on the first turn. In the stretch, Jose drifted him out just enough to get close to the other horse [Delta Prince] so that he would dig in and try hard. He responds well to the competition.”

The New York homebred improved to 5-for-5 in his career at Saratoga, fittingly winning a prestigious race named after one of the Spa’s most enduringly popular horses in Fourstardave, who won at least one race at the historic track every year from 1987-94 and earned the nickname “The Sultan of Saratoga” for his efforts. Last year, Voodoo Song won four races on the Saratoga turf, including the Grade 3 Saranac. 

“I think we need those type of horses, someone to root for,” Rice said. “Last year, starting out in a $40,000 claimer, he’s become a fan favorite. It’s unreal. Everyone who’s been to Saratoga in the last few decades is a fan of Fourstardave.”

Voodoo Song started his 4-year-old campaign with a fourth-place finish in an allowance race on the new outer turf Aqueduct on April 11 before posting a win against allowance company on May 12 at Belmont. Returning to stakes company, he ran third behind Oscar Performance and Made You Look in the Grade 3 Poker on June 17 at Belmont before winning the Forbidden Apple on July 14.

“He ran great there and learned to rate a little bit,” Rice said about his effort in the Poker. “As a 4-year-old, he’s matured. We went on in the Forbidden Apple and he ran great and now he caps it off with a Grade 1 at Saratoga. It’s like writing a movie.”

Rice said Voodoo Song could next be targeting the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile, a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Mile, on September 15 and could also start in the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile in October at Keeneland leading up the Breeders’ Cup in November at Churchill Downs.

“We’re going to race him a little less frequent,” Rice said. “This year, we’ve spaced him out a little bit more. Now, we’ve mapped out a plan. That’s our optimistic, exciting schedule. I don’t know if we’ll make all three, but I looked at it before I came to Saratoga and said if he’s at the top of his game, I’d have to decide. In his case, he performs better if I run him once a month versus too much time between races. He’s not a horse that you can keep at his ‘A game’ in the mornings.”

Rice said that roadmap would likely preclude Voodoo Song from another Saratoga appearance this year but left what she estimated as a 30 percent chance he could run in the Grade 2, $250,000 Bernard Baruch on Closing Day, September 3.

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G1 Travers-bound Gronkowski works on Spa main track

Grade 1 Belmont Stakes runner-up Gronkowski breezed five furlongs in 1:01.44 on the Saratoga main track Sunday morning, completing his fourth work at Saratoga leading up to the Grade 1, $1.25 million Runhappy Travers on August 25.

Trained by Chad Brown, Gronkowski worked five furlongs for a third straight week, going over a track listed as good. Jose Ortiz, who piloted Gronkowski to his late-running second-place finish in the June 9 Belmont, is tabbed to ride fellow Brown trainee Good Magic in the Mid-Summer Derby. Joel Rosario was aboard Gronkowski for Sunday’s move and has the mount for the Travers, said Brown.

“It was his first time on the horse,” Brown said of Rosario. “I thought the horse worked extremely well. Particularly his gallop out, [it] was strong. [He] galloped out pretty solid, 1:13 and change, 1:26 and four[-fifths], a strong work. We've got him where we need him.”

The Kentucky-bred Lonhro colt boasted four wins from six starts in Europe before getting transferred to Brown's care. In the Belmont Stakes, he rallied from last of 10 to finish 1 ¾ lengths behind Justify in his Triple Crown-winning effort, marking an impressive North American debut.

“I've only run him one time,” said Brown. “He didn't break well from the gate. He got a great, great ride from Jose. He had a good trip in the Belmont despite the break and after that, he got a really good trip. He’s a pretty straightforward, smart horse. I don't see anything complicated about him.”

Also on Sunday, OXO Equine's Instilled Regard breezed four furlongs in 49.55 seconds over the main track. It was the fourth work at Saratoga since the 3-year-old Kentucky-bred by Arch was transferred from Jerry Hollendorfer’s barn to Brown in June.

“He’s another one I thought had a nice gallop out," he said. “A good breeze, real strong gallop out. He's still on target for the Pennsylvania Derby [Grade 1, $1 million, September 22]. I'm not going to try and sneak a prep in there.”

Winner of the Grade 3 Lecomte in January, Instilled Regard finished fourth in both the Grade 2 Risen Star and Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby. He finished fourth again in the Kentucky Derby, his most recent effort, weaving through heavy stretch traffic to round out the superfecta at odds of 85-1 on May 5.

Peter Brant's multiple Grade 1 winner Sistercharlie, who took Saturday’s Grade 1 Beverly D. at Arlington Park by a half-length over stablemate Fourstar Crook, will be pointed to the Grade 1 Flower Bowl at Belmont Park on October 7 according to Brown.

“She's in that top, very selected group of best turf mares I’ve had,” he said. “Remarkable talent to come back in three weeks and run a real blinder. She ran terrific.”

The Beverly D. was the second straight Grade 1 victory after the 4-year-old Irish-bred daughter of Myboycharlie captured the July 21 Diana by a nose over Ultra Brat. 

“She ran fast, her number came back fast,” said Brown. “She had to really work to get the win by a small margin, and come back in three weeks, then ship, she's tough. She got a little cut up in the [Beverly D.], too. Had some sutures in her hind leg, but still ran on, she’s tough.

“The plan was to always go to the Flower Bowl and then the Breeders' Cup, and right now I'd prefer to do that,” he noted. “She'll be late going back to the track. I have a feeling it was [Athena]. They did a lot of bumping by the wire first time. I have a feeling it was her.”

Fourstar Crook, winner of the Grade 2 New York on June 8 and who finished a game second in the Beverly D., will also point to the Flower Bowl, said Brown.

“She’s a great mare. She's really consistent," he said. “Really a top racehorse. She ran a great race that would win most Beverly Ds. She loves Belmont.”

William H. Lawrence's Analyze It, second to longshot Carrick in Saturday's Grade 1 Secretariat at Arlington, will likely point to the Grade 2, $500,000 Hill Prince on October 6. The runner-up finish was the third in a row for the 3-year-old by Point of Entry after suffering narrow defeats by Catholic Boy in the Grade 3 Pennine Ridge and Grade 1 Belmont Derby.

“[I’m] disappointed he didn’t win,” Brown said. “He ran another really good race. I thought the winner ran very well in that race. He just came up second best. He attended a really quick pace on turf with some give in the ground, and he was the only one there at the end. I give him a lot of credit, but you still need to win. The horse that won, I thought got a great trip and ran a really great race. At the end of the day, I’d say that Analyze It was just second best yesterday.

“The Hill Prince, back to a mile and an eighth, seems like it would be a better distance for him. If I could run the horse two more times this year, it would probably be the Hill Prince and the Hollywood Derby, then give him a proper break,” he added.

Shadwell Stable's Grade 1 winner Almanaar, second to stablemate Robert Bruce in the Grade 1 Arlington Million, will likely get a cutback in distance, said Brown. The English-bred gelding by Dubawi owns a victory in the February 11 Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap.

“I'm not feeling a mile and a half for Almanaar,” said Brown. “So I have to think about what to do with that horse. I'll talk to Rick Nichols from Shadwell after the horse gets home here, and evaluate him and we'll see. He's an extremely talented horse. I know he's lightly raced over here. He's had some issues but when he's right, he's very, very good. He's fast. I always thought he was a mile-and-an-eighth, a mile-and-a-quarter [horse]. He might be able to cut back as much as a mile, he's versatile enough. He has a really good turn of foot.”

Brown also added that Arlington Million winner Robert Bruce will likely point to the Grade 1, $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic on September 29 at Belmont Park.

“[We'll] probably try him at a mile and a half,” he said. “He has run that far back home. I think he'll do it here.”

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Oscar Performance sent to Rood and Riddle as precaution; Heart to Heart looks for better conditions after detesting soft turf in Fourstardave

Oscar Performance is being checked out by Dr. Larry Bramlage at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital after being pulled up near the wire and vanned off in the Grade 1 Arlington Million, trainer Brian Lynch said back at his Saratoga barn Sunday morning.

Running in the stretch on a turf course listed as firm at Arlington Park, Oscar Performance was pulled up by jockey Jose Ortiz before he could complete the race. Lynch said nothing seemed apparent on initial inspection, but they sent the six-time graded stakes winner for further evaluation.

“He seems OK. To us, it wasn’t anything real apparent after the race, but Jose said he definitely took a bad step,” Lynch said. “He did the right thing and eased him up. When he got back to the barn, you couldn’t see anything on him, so just to be on the ultra-conservative side, we’re having [Rood and Riddle] to do an evaluation and make sure there’s nothing that we’re missing.”

Oscar Performance had breezed twice on Saratoga’s Oklahoma turf track before shipping to Arlington. The 4-year-old Kitten’s Joy colt was coming off a win in the Grade 3 Poker on June 17 at Belmont Park, building on a 3-year-old campaign in which he won the Grade 1 Secretariat at Arlington and both the Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational and Grade 3 Pennine Ridge at Belmont Park.

“Hopefully, it’s not an early retirement and it was just one of those things,” Lynch said. “There was nothing pronounced, we’re just keeping our fingers crossed that everything’s OK.”

Heart to Heart finished last of six in the Grade 1, $500,000 Fourstardave Handicap on Saturday at the Spa. While the one-mile race was contested on an inner turf labeled good, consistent rainfall in the area made the ground soft, which Lynch said was not conducive to the 7-year-old son of English Channel, who was the 2-1 morning line favorite.

“I tried to scratch Heart to Heart because I knew he hated the soft turf and when that happened, I knew it was going to be a funny day,” Lynch said. “He’s a funny old horse. On days he decides he doesn’t want to play, he just looks after himself. He’s done that to us before.”

Lynch said he’s seen similar behavior before, including the 2015 Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile when he ran 10th over soft turf.

“He got real soft turf and didn’t like it and he just looked after himself, very similar to yesterday,” Lynch said. “In the [Grade 2] Ft. Lauderdale this year, he reared up in the gate and couldn’t get into the race, and he did the same. He takes care of himself for himself. But Heart to Heart came back perfect.”

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G2 Jim Dandy hero Tenfold works five furlongs for Travers

Winchell Thoroughbred’s homebred Tenfold got back onto the worktab for the first time since winning the Grade 2 Jim Dandy on July 28, breezing five furlongs Sunday morning in company over the Oklahoma training track in 1:01.03 in preparation for the Grade 1 Travers.

“He worked solid,” said Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. “I’m very pleased with how he went over the race track.”

The 3-year-old Curlin colt kicked off his career with back-to-back wins at Oaklawn Park over the winter and took a major step up in class in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby on April 14, where he finished fifth in his stakes debut. He came back in the final two legs of the Triple Crown, finishing third by a neck in the Preakness and fifth in the Belmont Stakes.

“Hopefully we’ll have a good couple of weeks and go to the Travers from there. Thirteen more days to go,” said Asmussen.

Asmussen also reported multiple graded stakes winner Midnight Bisou, who most recently finished second in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks on July 22, remains in good order and will have a scheduled blowout tomorrow morning in preparation for a start in the Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama on Saturday.

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Cathedral Reader breezes Sunday for stakes debut in G2 Prioress

G M B Racing’s Cathedral Reader, scratched from the Grade 1 Longines Test August 4, will instead make her stakes debut in the Grade 2, $250,000 Prioress September 2, trainer Dallas Stewart said Sunday.

Cathedral Reader breezed a half-mile in 48.76 seconds over the Oklahoma training track Sunday morning, sixth-fastest of 54 horses. It was her third local work since arriving from Churchill Downs, where she ran third in a June 21 optional claiming allowance in her most recent start.

Like the Test, the Prioress is restricted to 3-year-old fillies but is run at six furlongs, a distance that Stewart felt would suit Cathedral Reader better at this stage of her career. The daughter of 2011 Grade 1 Preakness winner Shackleford won her debut May 13 at Churchill going 5 ½ furlongs.

“She worked great today. She worked great last week, too,” Stewart said. “After I entered her [in the Test], I got to thinking that she wasn’t ready to go seven-eighths and then it rained so we decided to wait. I think it was the right call. She’s doing real good. I think she’ll light it up in the Prioress.”

Stewart said Rock Ridge Racing’s homebred Auspicious Babe remains on course for the Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama for 3-year-old fillies going 1 ¼ miles August 18. She takes a two-race win streak into the race, breaking her maiden May 27 and beating winners in her comeback June 29, both going 1 1/16 miles at Churchill.

Auspicious Babe had her final work for the Alabama on Friday, going five furlongs over the Oklahoma in a bullet 1:00.17. Other horses pointing for the race are Coach Rocks, Eskimo Kisses, Figarella’s Queen, Midnight Bisou, She’s a Julie, and Talk Veuve to Me.

“She’s doing great. She worked great the other day and galloped out in 1:14,” Stewart said. “We think that she’ll handle the mile and a quarter. It’s a tough race, but it’s supposed to be.”

Charles Fipke’s Grade 1-winning homebred Seeking the Soul is expected to arrive in Saratoga August 22 to finalize preparations for his next scheduled start in the Grade 1, $750,000 Woodward September 1.

Stewart said the 5-year-old son of Perfect Soul came out of his bullet five-furlong work in 1:00.20 Saturday at Churchill in good order. Seeking the Soul ran fifth in his seasonal debut in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational January 27 at Gulfstream Park, then went unraced until finishing second in the Michael G. Schaefer Memorial July 14 at Indiana Grand.

“He had a little injury in the Pegasus and it just took a long time. We just jogged him for 60 days but he’s a real tough horse, and he got through it good,” Stewart said. “He had a good comeback race and he’s had some really good works since then. His fitness level for the Indiana race was maybe a little off but he got a lot out of it and he’s moving forward.

“We were glad to get a race into him, trying to figure out the right place to start him,” he added. “It was good. Hopefully it gets us to this spot. This is a major race. We’d like to win this one.”

Seeking the Soul worked Saturday with multiple graded-stakes placed Givemeaminit, who Stewart said would make his next start in the Grade 1, $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial presented by Runhappy at seven furlongs August 25. Third in the Grade 1 Hopeful last summer at Saratoga, the sophomore Star Guitar colt was most recently eighth in the Grade 3 Indiana Derby July 14 at Indiana Grand.

“Givemeaminit is coming for the Allen Jerkens. We like him at that distance better,” Stewart said. “We tried him in the Indiana Derby and that didn’t work out. He’s better going one turn. He likes this track, so we’re going to bring him up here and try him in there.”

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Vino Rosso ‘happy with himself’ following Travers breeze

Grade 2 Wood Memorial winner Vino Rosso has been in good spirits since following his penultimate Travers breeze on Saturday, when he worked four furlongs in company with 3-year-old allowance winner Alberobello in 48 seconds over the main track, said trainer Todd Pletcher Sunday morning. 

“He came out of it very well. He’s very happy with himself this morning, showing good energy,” he said. “We expected him to work well and he did. I liked the way he finished and galloped out. It seemed like he was moving well and we weren’t looking for too much more than that. With him, stamina is never an issue, it’s just about keeping him mentally in the game. We’re not as concerned about the stamina aspect of him as much as the focus part of it.”

The work was the first for Vino Rosso since finishing a late-running third in the 1 1/8-mile Grade 2 Jim Dandy on July 28. In that effort, the chestnut Curlin colt spotted his nearest rival five or six lengths up the backstretch under urging from Hall of Famer John Velazquez and finally responded with a strong kick in the upper stretch to finish three-quarters of a length behind Tenfold and a head behind Flameaway.

“I thought he got enough conditioning out of [the Jim Dandy], but unfortunately, he put himself in a spot where he left himself too much to do, and that was frustrating,” Pletcher said. “But, hopefully, he’ll be a little more focused and I think the mile and a quarter will help as well. I think he’s shown in the Wood and some of his other races that when he delivers his ‘A’ performance, he’s capable.”

Owned by Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable, Vino Rosso won the Wood Memorial by three lengths in April following a pair of underwhelming results at Tampa Bay Downs, where he finished third in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis and a well-beaten fourth in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby. The Wood Memorial, Vino Rosso’s second start with blinkers, awarded the colt a spot in the Kentucky Derby, where he made up ground late to finish ninth. He came back five weeks later to finish fourth in the Grade 1 Belmont, 3 ¾ lengths behind Triple Crown winner Justify.

Pletcher said Vino Rosso will put in his final work for the Mid-Summer Derby on Friday or Saturday, depending on the weather. Velazquez will have the return call.

Vino Rosso’s workmate, Alberobello, is currently nominated to the Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama at 1 ¼ miles on Saturday, but Pletcher said the lightly raced Bernardini filly is possible to wait for the Grade 1 Cotillon September 22 at Parx Racing. Alberobello hasn’t finished worse than second in four career starts, including a frontrunning, 5 ¾-length win in a 1 1/8-mile allowance race at the Spa on July 26.

“I thought she handled the stretch out well last time and she’s been a filly that we’ve always had high hopes for. I’m just not positive that coming back off a kind of short rest in the Alabama is something that she’s quite ready for,” said Pletcher. “We’ll see how she trains over the next couple of days and decide.”

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Swamp Rat, Yes and Yes stepping up to stakes company in Friday’s Skidmore

Phil Gleaves-trained stablemates Swamp Rat and Yes and Yes, coming off debut victories a month apart at Belmont Park, will make their next starts together in the $100,000 Skidmore for 2-year-olds at 5 ½ furlongs on the grass August 17, with an eye on the Grade 3, $150,000 With Anticipation 12 days later.

Bryan Hilliard’s homebred Swamp Rat sprung a 24-1 upset in his unveiling June 17, rallying from far back for a 2 ¾-length score going six furlongs on the turf. Since then he shows six breezes at Saratoga, the last four over the Oklahoma grass course, including a bullet three furlongs in 36.62 seconds Friday.

“I thought his first race was pretty impressive. He came from off the pace and ran a solid race, going three-quarters in [1:08.92],” Gleaves said. “There were just no races for him on the grass so we trained him up to this race. I foresee him being more of a distance horse, and we’ll use this to get to the With Anticipation.

“The 5 ½ is a bit of a concern because he came from well off the pace going six, but my hands are tied. It’s either run him here or don’t run him,” he added. “I think the race will do him a lot of good, even if it’s a little short for him, moving forward to the next one.”

The With Anticipation for 2-year-olds is contested at 1 1/16 miles. Julien Leparoux is named to ride in the Skidmore.

Yes and Yes was bred and is co-owned by Gleaves. The son of Sidney’s Candy made his debut May 25 at Belmont, racing in mid-pack before moving into contention in the stretch and digging in through the lane for a gutsy nose triumph at odds of 36-1 in 57.26 seconds for five furlongs.

“He wasn’t as far back in his race as Swamp Rat because he’s got a bit more speed,” Gleaves said. “He looked good winning his race. He’s stepping up in distance for this race and, depending on how he goes, we’ll consider the With Anticipation, as well.”

Swamp Rat and Yes and Yes are among seven horses, all 2-year-olds, Gleaves has at Saratoga. A former assistant to late Hall of Fame trainer Woody Stephens, Gleaves won the 1986 Travers with Wise Times.

“We were definitely thinking grass right away with both horses. Swamp Rat is by Hat Trick, and most Hat Tricks excel on the grass. The same with Sidney’s Candy. We didn’t even bother looking for dirt races,” he said. “We’ve had a bit of a frustrating start with the weather but, in saying that, it’s great to be here.”