SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The Chad Brown pair of Program Trading and I’m Very Busy take on the Charlie Appleby-trained duo of Measured Time and Nations Pride in the Grade 1, $1 million Manhattan Stakes in the race immediately preceding Saturday’s $2 million Belmont Stakes at Saratoga. The New York Racing Association drew the fields and assigned post positions for 12 of the 14 races to be run Saturday. The draws for the Belmont Stakes itself and the Grade 1, $1 million Metropolitan Handicap were to be drawn on Monday afternoon at an event in downtown Saratoga Springs. With a relentless stretch run, Program Trading beat the Appleby-trained Naval Power by a head in the Grade 1 Turf Classic at Churchill Downs in the race immediately preceding the Kentucky Derby five weeks ago. That victory was Program Trading’s fifth in six career starts. Brown also sent out I’m Very Busy in the Turf Classic, but that horse threw a fit in the paddock and at the gate and finished seventh of 10 as the 2-1 favorite. I’m Very Busy won his career debut at Saratoga in the summer of 2022, though he finished fourth and third, respectively, in two first-level allowance tries last summer here. :: DRF Belmont Stakes Packages: Save up to 52% on PPs, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more Appleby’s pair in the Manhattan is strong with Measured Time, a winner of five of seven starts including the Group 1 Jebel Hatta in Dubai in January, and Nations Pride, a Grade or Group 1 winner in Saratoga, Germany and Canada. The Manhattan field, from the rail out: I’m Very Busy, Ohana Honor, Kertez, Strong Quality, Program Trading, Al Riffa, Nations Pride, Far Bridge and Measured Time. Champs Idiomatic and Pretty Mischievous head Phipps Idiomatic, the champion older female of 2023, and Pretty Mischievous, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2023, meet for the second time in 2024 in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Ogden Phipps at 1 1/8 miles. Idiomatic, who won the Grade 1 Personal Ensign here last summer as part of her 8 for 9 campaign, won the Grade 1 La Troienne at Churchill Downs on May 3, a race in which Pretty Mischievous finished third. On Saturday, Idiomatic will break from post 5 under Florent Geroux, while Pretty Mischievous, the 2023 Kentucky Oaks winner, breaks from post 3 under Tyler Gaffalione. Chad Brown has Alabama winner Randomized and the in-form Raging Sea entered in the Phipps. Randomized, beaten 4 3/4 lengths by Soul of an Angel in the Grade 2 Ruffian to begin her 4-year-old campaign, breaks from the rail. Raging Sea, who won the Grade 3 Doubledogdare at Keeneland to begin her 4-year-old season, drew post 6. Tizzy in the Sky drew post 2 while Soul of a Angel leaves from post 4 in the Phipps, which goes as race 7. Book’em Danno draws rail for Woody Stephens Book’em Danno, beaten a head by Forever Young in the Saudi Derby, drew the rail in a field of 12 for his return to the U.S. in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Woody Stephens for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs. Though he has won four of six starts, Book’em Danno’s best race may have been in the Saudi Derby, in which he was run down in the last jump by Forever Young, who would go on to win the UAE Derby and get beat two noses when third behind Mystik Dan and Sierra Leone in the Kentucky Derby. :: DRF's Belmont Stakes Headquarters: Contenders, latest news, and more The Woody Stephens field includes Imagination, who is cutting back to a one-turn race after finishing seventh in the Preakness three weeks ago. Imagination is trained by Bob Baffert, who also entered Prince of Monaco, who won the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity last September but hasn’t been out since running fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in November. The Woody Stephens field includes Barksdale, Valentine Candy, Frost Free, Reasoned Analysis, Vlahos, Nash, Nutella Fella, Maximus Meridius and Be You. Cogburn, Arzak, top oversubscribed Jaipur Cogburn, a winner of four of five starts since moving to turf, and Arzak, winner of the Grade 2 Shakertown last out, head an oversubscribed field entered Sunday for Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Jaipur Stakes for sprinters on turf. Cogburn, trained by Steve Asmussen, won the Grade 2 Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs on Derby Day. Last summer, he won the Grade 3 Troy here beating Nobals, who would win the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. Cogburn drew post 8 in a field that had 17 entrants, 12 of whom may run, four of whom were relegated to the also-eligible list and one who was excluded. Arzak, trained by Mike Trombetta, won an allowance race sprinting on turf here last summer. He is coming in off a one-length victory in the Shakertown, in which he defeated Mischief Magic by one length. Mischief Magic is back in this field. He will break from post 2, one slot outside of Thin White Duke, who won the Harvey Pack Stakes here last summer. Outside of Arzak in post order are Dancing Buck, Coppola, Big Invasion, Star of Mystery, No Nay Mets, Cogburn, Sosua Summer, Alogon, Filo Di Arianna and Mischief Magic. The also-eligibles are Grooms All Bizness, Outlaw Kid, American Monarch and Souper Quest. In other stakes Saturday: *** Casa Creed, the four-time Grade 1 winner, heads a field of eight entered in the Grade 3, $300,000 Poker Stakes going a mile on turf. Casa Creed has won the last two runnings of the Grade 1 Fourstardave going a mile here. He finished third in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile. Casa Creed breaks from post 2 under Luis Saez. Also entered were Mysterious Knight, Carl Spackler, Ice Chocolat, Front Run the Fed, Kubrick, Talk of the Nation and Lucky Score. *** Bendoog, who won two allowance races in 22 days at Aqueduct for trainer Bill Mott, may have found a nice spot to make his North American graded stakes debut Saturday in the Grade 2, $350,000 Suburban at 1 1/4 miles. Bendoog, who raced in Dubai before coming to the U.S., meets Charge It, who won a soft renewal of the Suburban in 2023; Crupi, winner of the Discovery and Queens County last year; and Signator, Masqueparade, Time for Trouble, Good Skate and Kuchar. *** Gun Pilot, winner of the Grade 1 Churchill Downs five weeks ago, heads a field of seven entered in the Grade 2, $350,000 True North at 6 1/2 furlongs. Gun Pilot is 3 for 4 this year for trainer Steve Asmussen. He’ll meet Baby Yoda, who comes in off an allowance win at Aqueduct last month and who fired a bullet half-mile work in 47.20 over the Oklahoma training track on Sunday morning. Also entered were Accretive, Gun Pilot, Ninetyprcentmaddie, Rotknee and Twenty Four Mamba. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.