Voodoo Song should control pace for Bernard Baruch's small field

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – He’s 5 for 5 over the Saratoga turf, appears to be the lone speed in the field, and couldn’t be training any better than he is now. Add it all up and it will be tough to side against Voodoo Song when he takes on just four rivals in Monday’s $250,000 Bernard Baruch.

Six horses were originally entered in the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch, but Synchrony will scratch after trainer Michael Stidham opted to run him instead at Monmouth Park on Saturday in the Grade 3 Red Bank.

Voodoo Song, a former $40,000 claimer, blossomed here last summer, winning four races during the six-week Saratoga meet, including the Grade 3 Saranac on closing weekend. After taking the winter off, Voodoo Song launched his 2018 campaign finishing fourth under high-level optional-claiming conditions last April at Aqueduct. He has won three of his four starts since, including the Grade 1 Fourstardave Handicap here Aug. 11, when he outlasted Delta Prince by a neck after getting loose on an easy lead.

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Voodoo Song figures to have a similarly easy time controlling the pace in the 1 1/16-mile Bernard Baruch breaking from the rail with Jose Lezcano aboard again. He will carry high weight of 122 pounds under the Bernard Baruch allowance conditions, conceding the opposition 3 to 7 pounds.

“He had a good year last year, but it’s not always easy to make the transition from 3 to 4,” said Linda Rice, who trains Voodoo Song for Barry Schwartz. “We knew he had to take a step forward to compete against older horses this year, and he’s really shown a nice progression beginning at Belmont Park and continuing through his win in the Fourstardave.”

The progression is evident from Voodoo Song’s recent string of Beyer Speed Figures, which have gone steadily upward from the 92 he earned in his 2018 bow to the career-high 104 he received for his performance in the Fourstardave.

“He seems to be getting better with each race, he’s training very well right now, and we’re really excited about the fall campaign,” Rice said. “After the Fourstardave we decided, ideally, we’d like to get to the Shadwell Mile and Breeders’ Cup Mile. We had two options to do that, either the Woodbine Mile or the Baruch, and in our opinion it made more sense to keep him right here. He’s carrying a bit of weight this time around and I really don’t like the 1 post, but it’s a small field and there aren’t any other strong speed horses in the field, which should be a big help for us.”

What the Bernard Baruch lacks in quantity, it makes up in quality with Voodoo Song set to face Grade 2 winner Projected, the multiple Grade 3 winner Inspector Lynley, Forge, and Qurbaan, who was Group 3-placed in France a year ago and is making his U.S. debut Saturday.

Projected is coming off a couple of hard-luck second-place finishes, including a one-length setback behind Voodoo Song following a wide trip in the Forbidden Apple on July 14 at Belmont.

Inspector Lynley snapped a five-race losing skid when he overcame a slow start to upset Projected by three-quarters of a length three weeks ago in the Lure, a race decided over a “good”course.