Sports

Wise Dan captures Fourstardave

SARATOGA SPRINGS — John Velazquez’s ride aboard 3-2 favorite Wise Dan in Saturday’s Grade 2, $500,000 Fourstardave at the Old Spa wasn’t exactly like his victory aboard Union Rags in the Belmont Stakes, but it was pretty darn close.

Going a mile over the inner turf course, Velazquez — who was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame on Friday — took a hard hold of Wise Dan as he tucked inside behind the pace set by Get Stormy. Around the far turn and through the upper stretch, Velazquez waited and waited, and waited some more, for Get Stormy to come off the rail and give him room to run.

When Corporate Jungle rallied strongly to the outside in mid-stretch, Get Stormy drifted out under Eddie Castro to fight him, just as Paynter did in the Belmont. That’s when Velazquez pounced, driving Get Dan through the hole along the fence, and the 5-year-old gelding, trained by Charles Lopresti, ran to daylight, winning the Fourstardave by five lengths in 1:37.30 to pay $5 before a crowd of 26,782.

“I guess the soft turf didn’t bother him,” Lopresti said. “He’s never run on soft turf like that. I was a little concerned, but Johnny said he wasn’t a bit worried. When I saw him down on the inside, backing up a little bit, I thought, ‘Oh, boy.’ But Johnny said he had so much horse he could have pulled the trigger any time.”

The Fourstardave is named for one of the most popular horses ever to run at Saratoga, a frequent stakes winner over the turf here, who was trained by Velazquez’s father-in-law, Leo O’Brien.

“It’s ironic,” Velazquez. “It stays in the family.”

ed .fountaine@nypost.com