At a time when injury or the lure of the breeding dollar has taken away some of horse racing’s stars, trainer Tom Albertrani has been thrilled to welcome one back into his barn.

Albertrani has resumed training multiple graded stakes-winning sprinter Songster, who saw his brief stud career end this spring because of fertility issues.

“It’s definitely neat,” said Albertrani, who trained Songster to a pair of graded stakes wins among seven starts in 2006. “He came back, and he acts exactly the same way as when he left. That’s a good sign. I guess he’s focused on running and on his business.”

A five-year-old by Songandaprayer, Songster stood at Darley in Lexington this year but failed to get any of approximately 60 mares in foal. He was sent to trainer Johnny Burke at Keeneland Race Course and had six workouts on the synthetic Polytrack surface before joining Albertrani’s barn.

Songster has had two half-mile workouts at Saratoga Race Course, including a :48.70 breeze on Saturday, which ranked ninth of 23 timed moves at the distance.

“It was a good work,” Albertrani said. “It looked like he came back to his old self again.”

Songster has finished first or second in seven of eight career starts, with four wins and $367,740 in earnings. Albertrani trained Songster as a three-year-old for Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid al Maktoum before he was transferred to Godolphin trainer Saeed bin Suroor as a four-year-old in 2007.

He won the Hirsch Jacobs Stakes (G3) and Woody Stephens Breeders’ Cup Stakes (G2) for Albertrani. Songster won the Bold Ruler Handicap (G3) in his only start at four.

Albertrani was unsure if he would be able to find a race for Songster before the Saratoga meet ends September 1 or if he would make his comeback during the Belmont Park fall meet, which opens September 4.

“He’s still a young horse, and hopefully we can get him back to where we left off,” Albertrani said.
(Source: Thoroughbred Times)