Qurbaan wins Saratoga’s Bernard Baruch in three-way photo

As unbeaten Saratoga runner Voodoo Song faded from the lead in Monday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Bernarch Baruch Handicap, one heck of a horse race assembled.

They hit the wire three across, with Qurbaan getting up over a fast-closing Forge in the middle. Projected was third down on the inside.

The winner and runner-up were both 13-1, the longest shots in a compact field of five on closing day at the Spa.

Kiaran McLaughlin trains Qurbaan, a 5-year-old Shadwell Stable runner who had never started for him, and also hadn’t run since Oct. 10, 2017. Qurbaan's last start came in Turkey, to boot.

"We've had him a couple of months," McLaughlin said. "He came over and had some time off, but ever since he's been with us, he's done everything right. He trains very well."

McLaughlin said the Kentucky-bred son of Speightstown will stay in the U.S. and could become a force on the turf should he continue improving. The final time under jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. was a respectable 1:40 for 1 1/16 miles.

"He has a bright future," McLaughlin said.

"I'm excited," Ortiz Jr. added. "Hopefully, we can build on this."

Meanwhile, 3-5 favorite Voodoo Song's defeat was a head scratcher. He got his preferred front-running trip and set modest opening fractions of 24.13 and 47.89, stretching the lead to four lengths up the back stretch. But the field closed into the turn, and when the real running began, a horse that entered 5-for-5 at Saratoga didn't factor.

Qurbaan returned $28 on a $2 win bet as part of an exacta that paid $94.25 for $1 -- not bad at all in a five-horse field.

McLaughlin indicated that Keeneland's Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile could be next.