SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Any discussion regarding Friday’s $150,000 Bernard Baruch Stakes at Saratoga must begin with three-time Grade 1 winner Program Trading, who returns from a near 15-month layoff to face five seemingly outclassed rivals going 1 1/16 miles over the inner turf.
Program Trading has not started since finishing fifth in the Grade 1 Manhattan here in June 2024. Prior to that effort, Program Trading had captured five of his six previous starts, including narrow and very game Grade 1 victories in both the Saratoga Derby Invitational and Hollywood Derby at 3 in 2023 and the Turf Classic when making his 4-year-old debut the following May at Churchill Downs.
Although all of his stakes wins have come at distances of 1 1/8 miles or beyond, Program Trading launched his career with a pair of victories going 1 1/16 miles. His trainer, Chad Brown, said being successful at 1 1/16 miles could be key to Program Trading perhaps still being able to earn himself a starting berth in this year’s Breeders’ Cup.
“He had just minor stuff, it just all added up,” Brown explained when asked about the long layoff since the Manhattan. “He was sick. He had some bone remodeling. He just needed time. He is finally looking good and doing good. And if we’re going to have our eye on something meaningful this year, if he has a chance to be a Breeders’ Cup-level horse, he’s going to have to sort of reinvent himself as a miler.”
Brown said if there is enough pace going a mile, he believes Program Trading can be effective at a high level at that distance. And there certainly appears to be plenty of pace signed on for the Bernard Baruch with Northern Invader and Donegal Momentum in a lineup that also includes key contenders Major Dude and General Jim along with Tabeguache.
Major Dude has yet to run a bad race in six tries this season but remains winless for those efforts. He has been graded stakes-placed three times, missing by a nose when narrowly defeated by Fort Washington in the Grade 3 Canadian Turf to start the year at Gulfstream Park. He went on to be third in the Grade 3 Poker here June 8 and third when stretching to 1 3/8 miles last month at Monmouth Park in the Grade 2 United Nations.
“He always runs well. It’s frustrating he hasn’t won as often as we’d like, but he always shows up,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “Probably a mile and one-sixteenth, a mile and an eighth is ideal for him.
“We ended up getting a little pressure earlier than we wanted last time. We were hoping we could steal things on the front end. Maybe it wound up being just a tick too far in the end. Hopefully, we can sit a pocket trip behind the two speed horses in here.”
Donegal Momentum survived a frightening incident in the Grade 3 Kelso on July 5, when he stumbled badly and nearly unseated his rider, Javier Castellano, near the three-eighths pole after prompting the early pace before ultimately being eased to the wire. In his previous try, Donegal Momentum led gate to wire to capture the Grade 3 Poker for the first graded stakes win of his career.
Northern Invader also has proven to be at his best on the front end, as he was finishing second in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Stakes to open the season and to win a third-level optional-claiming and allowance race this spring at Churchill Downs.
General Jim would benefit from a lively pace while still in search of his first win since capturing the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile over the main track at Churchill during the spring of his 3-year-old campaign in 2023. A versatile sort, General Jim posted a 90 Beyer Speed Figure on grass when finishing third here five weeks ago against high-priced optional-claiming and allowance opposition going a mile.
-- additional reporting by David Grening
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