SARATOGA SPRINGS — Early retirement, either by injury or the lure of the breeding dollar, has cost horse racing some of its top stars in recent years.

On very rare occasions, the stars come back.

Such is the case with Songster, a multiple graded stakes-winning sprinter who rejoined trainer Tom Albertrani at Saratoga Race Course this month.

“It’s definitely neat,” Albertrani said Sunday morning. “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.”

Now 5, Songster worked a half-mile in :48.70 Saturday on Sar­atoga’s main track, the ninth-fastest of 23 horses at the distance.

It was the second work here for the Songandaprayer colt, who was clocked in :51.24 for four furlongs on Aug. 3.

“It was a good work [Saturday],” Albertrani said. “It looked like he came back to his old self again. He’s only been here for two weeks now. He’s doing really good since he’s been back.”

Songster originally ran for Darley Stable, not making his first start until his 3-year-old year. He won his debut for Albertrani at Gulfstream Park, then ran second in an entry-level allowance two months later, and the Grade III Bay Shore at Aqueduct.

From there, Songster won the Grade III Hirsch Jacobs at Pimlico on Preakness Day 2006, then captured the Grade II Woody Stephens Breeders’ Cup on the Belmont Stakes undercard.

He was upset as the favorite by Court Folly in the Grade II Amsterdam at Saratoga, finishing second, and was fifth in the Grade I King’s Bishop the following month, his final start for Darley.

Godolphin took over for Songster’s 4-year-old year, and moved him to assistant trainer Rick Mettee, who runs the organization’s New York string for trainer Saeed bin Suroor.

He ran only once at 4, going gate to wire to win the Grade III Bold Ruler Handicap at Belmont as the 1-2 favorite last May. Two months later, Songster came out of a breeze with a strained ligament, and the following month was retired with a soft tissue injury.

Songster entered stud this year at Darley, near Lexington, Ky., for a $10,000 fee. Though he covered approximately 60 mares, he was unable to get any of them in foal due to undetermined fertility

issues, and the decision was made to return him to training.

“It’s obviously an unfortunate situation, but one that happens occasionally in our business,” Darley stallion nominations manager Charlie Boden said. “We look forward to seeing him perform once again on the track.”

Songster was initially sent to trainer Johnny Burke at Keene­land, where he had six timed works over the all-weather track, the last on July 19, before being shipped to Saratoga.

Albertrani would like to find a race for Songster at Saratoga, but figures he will probably run out of time before the meet ends on Sept. 1.

“I don’t have any specific race picked out for him,” he said. “It may ending up being at Belmont before I find a race for him. I didn’t notice anything to bring him back in up here. He’s still a few works away.”

Songster finished first or second in seven of eight career starts, with four wins and $367,740 in earnings.

“He’s still a young horse, and hopefully, we can get him back to where we left off here,” Albertrani said. “He stopped racing and had a minor setback, but now he came back healthy and we’ll try to pick up where we left off.”