Qurbaan can end losing streak in Forbidden Apple

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Qurbaan burst onto the local scene with a bang on closing day of the 2018 Saratoga meeting, winning his U.S. debut in game fashion after coming out best in a three-horse photo with Forge and Projected to upset the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch.

Qurbaan hasn’t won in six subsequent starts but appears to be in good position to end that streak when returning to Saratoga for Friday’s $150,000 Forbidden Apple. Qurbaan is the class of the Grade 3 turf fixture along with Voodoo Song, who used his victory in the 2018 Forbidden Apple as a stepping-stone to his first Grade 1 win four weeks later in the Fourstardave.

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Qurbaan has kept a steady diet of Grade 1 company in his last three starts. The 6-year-old son of Speightstown finished third behind Delta Prince at Keeneland in the Maker’s 46 Mile; second, beaten just a half-length by division leader Bricks and Mortar in the Old Forester Turf Classic at Churchill Downs; and most recently a tiring eighth while stretching to 1 1/4 miles for the first time in the Manhattan at Belmont Park.

Qurbaan wore blinkers for the first time in the Old Forester Turf Classic and again in the Manhattan but will not have them on for the one-mile Forbidden Apple, according to trainer Kiaran McLaughlin.

“I put just a small cup on him thinking it may help him focus a little, and he ran a great second at Churchill Downs,” McLaughlin said. “Although who’s to say he might have run just as well without them.

“In his second start [with blinkers] he basically ran off with Mike [Smith], so I’m going to take them off on Friday hoping he settles.”

McLaughlin also is hoping Qurbaan’s new rider, Joel Rosario, can work out a stalking trip behind expected pacesetters Voodoo Song and Gidu.

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“There looks like a lot of pace in there, which works well for us,” McLaughlin said. “It’s a little easier spot than what he’s been facing, although it’s never easy up here. It’s been a little frustrating he hasn’t won in almost a year, but he runs well all the time, and hopefully Joel can time it right and he can get up.”

Voodoo Song led throughout en route to a one-length victory over Projected in the 2018 Forbidden Apple and used a similar style to outlast Delta Prince by a neck to upset the Fourstardave. Unfortunately, he closed the season on a disappointing note, finishing fifth behind Qurbaan as the 3-5 favorite in the Baruch before finishing far back in the Shadwell Turf Mile. The Baruch is Voodoo Song’s only loss in six turf starts at Saratoga.

Trainer Chad Brown will counter Qurbaan and Voodoo Song with Offering Plan and Made You Look.

The late-running New York-bred Offering Plan has finished third and fifth in the last two renewals of the Forbidden Apple, beaten just 1 1/4 lengths by Voodoo Song a year ago.

“A mile on this course is a little tight for him, but he always shows up and there looks like plenty of speed in the race, so it could work out well,” Brown said.

Made You Look has not started since finishing fourth in the 2018 Fourstardave.

“He had colic surgery, but Three Chimneys did a great job and he’s come back as good as before,” Brown said. “This is a tough spot off the layoff, but I wanted to start him off in something going a mile and its right here.”

Solid cases can be made for several other members of the field, including multiple stakes winner Gidu, who captured an allowance race at Belmont Park in his only start this season, and Grade 2 winners Hembree, March to the Arch, and Mr Havercamp.

First Premio and Doctor Mounty complete the strong, competitive lineup.