Heart to Heart wraps Fourstardave prep with easy half-mile work

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – After a brief freshening, Heart to Heart is set to resume his 7-year-old campaign in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Fourstardave Handicap at Saratoga. On Monday, he put in his final workout in preparation for what will be his fourth straight appearance in a Grade 1 turf stakes this season.

Heart to Heart, the first of more than 100 horses to put in workouts over the Oklahoma turf course Monday, breezed a half-mile in 49.69 seconds under Julien Leparoux. Heart to Heart went his opening half-mile in 25.14 and got his last quarter in 24.55. Following a bullet five-furlong move last week, trainer Brian Lynch said he wasn’t looking for a fast work Monday.

“Just an easy half, very comfortable, Julien was happy with it and visually I thought it was a nice work,” Lynch said. “No one’s worked this horse any more than Julien, and when he’s happy it has to give you confidence.”

Heart to Heart is a two-time Grade 1 winner this year, having taken the Gulfstream Park Turf and the Maker’s 46 Mile at Keeneland. On May 28, he got beat a neck by Hunt in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita.

The Fourstardave will be Heart to Heart’s first race in 75 days.

Two of Heart to Heart’s main rivals Saturday – Delta Prince and Yoshida – also worked Monday.

Delta Prince, who won the King Edward at Woodbine in his most recent start, worked a half-mile in 47.01 over the Oklahoma dirt track. Working in company with Timber Ghost, Delta Prince went in even quarter splits of 23.51 and 23.50, and went out an extra eighth in 13.22.

“I thought he looked good,” trainer Jimmy Jerkens said. “The track over here’s been pretty fast lately, but I thought he still bounced right over it.”

Yoshida, beaten 1 1/4 lengths in the Group 1 Queen Anne at Royal Ascot in June, worked a half-mile 51.16 over the Oklahoma turf, getting his last quarter in 24.37.

“He worked well,” trainer Bill Mott said. “The boy thought he really worked well.”

A field of at least five is expected to be entered Wednesday for the Fourstardave. With weight assignments, they are Heart to Heart (124 pounds), Yoshida (122), Delta Prince (118), Voodoo Song (118), and Made You Look (115). Divisidero (119) and Forge (116) were possible