Fourstardave attracts only six

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Even though two-time defending champion Wise Dan is not in the lineup, only six horses were entered Wednesday for Saturday’s Grade 2 Fourstardave.

Silver Max and Seek Again top the lineup. Trainer Bryan Lynch has entered his pair of Dorsett and Grand Arch, while Jack Milton and Sayaad complete the field.

Silver Max is coming off a gate-to-wire victory in the Grade 2 Firecracker at Churchill Downs. Sayaad also led from start to finish in his last start, which came over a yielding course in Belmont’s Forbidden Apple. Kiaran McLaughlin, who trains Sayaad for Shadwell Stable, is hoping the two won’t engage in a potentially disastrous speed duel when they meet for the first time in the Fourstardave.

“Silver Max and us have the same style, so I hope we don’t compromise each other out there on Saturday,” McLaughlin said.

Seek Again would be the beneficiary of a contentious pace. He turns back to a mile after running in two 1 1/4-mile Grade 1 stakes. He rallied late to finish second by a head to Wise Dan in the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic and third behind Real Solution in the Grade 1 Manhattan.

Jack Milton also does his best from off the pace, having rallied from last to capture the Grade 3 Poker at Belmont in May before running out of real estate when finishing fifth in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita last out.