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Voodoo Zip seeks first stakes score in $150K Lucky Coin

by Keith McCalmont

West Point Thoroughbreds’ ultra-consistent Voodoo Zip will look to register his first stakes score in Friday’s $150,000 Lucky Coin, a 5 1/2-furlong Mellon turf sprint for older horses, at Saratoga Race Course. 

Trained by Christophe Clement, the 5-year-old City Zip bay enters from a close fifth-place finish in his stakes debut in the six-furlong Grade 2 Highlander on July 2 at Woodbine Racetrack where he rallied from 10th to finish just 2 1/4-lengths back of the victorious Bound for Nowhere. 

Bred in Kentucky by Maccabee Farm, Voodoo Zip boasts a record of 15-4-6-3 for purse earnings of $273,495, including a trio of scores against winners at Belmont Park. 

Clement said Voodoo Zip, who breezed a half-mile in 49.93 August 24 over the Oklahoma dirt training track, will need a strong pace to chase to secure the win. 

"He's probably more of a six to seven-furlong [horse] which is impossible to find, so five-and-a-half is a touch on the quick side, but he's doing well. He's healthy,” Clement said. “He's a little bit tricky to train, but he's training very well the last three or four weeks."

Joel Rosario, who has teamed with Clement to win four stakes this meet, picks up the mount from post 6. 

Philip Gleaves, Steven Crist, Ken deRegt and Bryan Hilliard’s New York-bred Thin White Duke enters from a closing third in the Grade 3 Troy on August 5 at the Spa, finishing a neck back of the victorious two-time Breeders’ Cup winner Golden Pal. 

Trainer David Donk took over from his former conditioner Gleaves, who also bred the 4-year-old Dominus gelding, for his current campaign, which includes an optional-claiming win in April at Aqueduct Racetrack. 

Hall of Famer John Velazquez, who secured his 1000th career win at the Spa on Thursday, has the call from post 5. 

Big Package, trained and co-owned by Donk with Sean Carney, is also in search of his first stakes score. The 5-year-old New York-bred son of Big Brown boasts a record of 4-2-2-0 over the Spa turf, taking a pair of allowance sprints at the Lucky Coin distance. 

Jose Ortiz retains the mount from post 1. 

D.J. Stable, Jonathan Green and Empire Racing Club’s Proven Strategies [post 3, Tyler Gaffalione] captured the 2020 Toronto Cup at one-mile over the Woodbine turf and has contested eight stakes since, posting runner-up efforts at Monmouth Park in the Red Bank in September and the Select in June. 

Trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, the 5-year-old Sky Mesa gelding earned a career-best 95 Beyer in his rallying neck loss to Belgrano in the 5 1/2-furlong Select. 

Monster Racing Stables’ The Critical Way [post 2, Luis Saez] captured the Get Serious two starts back in May for conditioner Jose Delgado. The 8-year-old Tizway gelding sports a ledger of 31-10-6-2 for field-best purse earnings of $616,168, led by a narrow nose score in the Grade 3 Parx Dash last August. 

Rounding out the field are the graded stakes placed Fauci [post 7, Junior Alvarado], stakes-placed Maxwell Esquire [post 8, Kendrick Carmouche] and five-time winner Dancing Buck [post 4, Manny Franco]. Wendell Fong and Wudda U Think Now entered for the main-track only. 

The Lucky Coin is slated as Race 8 on Friday’s 10-race card, which also features the Grade 2, $250,000 Prioress in Race 9. First post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern. 

Saratoga Live will present daily coverage and analysis of the summer meet at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule. 

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