NEW ORLEANS – Program Trading drew the outside post and faces six rivals Saturday in the Grade 2, $300,000 Muniz Memorial Classic at Fair Grounds. And in this case, being on the outside looking in probably is a good thing. Program Trading last started Jan. 24, the 13-10 favorite to beat 11 foes in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf. Settled in midpack down the backstretch and around the far turn on the Gulfstream turf course, Program Trading turned for home and had a seam along the rail. “I don’t know what happened,” trainer Chad Brown said. “He got a great trip, it opened up on the inside, and he didn’t want to go through.” Program Trading, going one-paced through the final furlong, checked in fifth, beaten 1 1/2 lengths. :: Big Action in the Big Easy at Fair Grounds! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Interpreting that defeat is the key to handicapping the Muniz, where Program Trading is listed as the 9-5 favorite. If you can forgive the performance, Program Trading makes great sense Saturday. Talented from the start, Program Trading had five wins and a second from his first six races, two of those victories at the Grade 1 level. A tame fifth as the favorite in the Grade 1 Manhattan in June 2024, Program Trading went to the sidelines and didn’t start again until last August. After a fast-closing comeback second in the Bernard Baruch at Saratoga, Program Trading looked just about like his old self rallying for second in the Grade 1 Turf Mile at Keeneland in October. Both that race and a tough-trip 10th in the Breeders’ Cup Mile came at a distance short of Program Trading’s best. The Muniz’s 1 1/8-mile distance hits Program Trading’s sweet spot – but so did the Pegasus. A mile and an eighth was supposed to be too far for 5-year-old Lagynos, a solid Grade 2 type over one mile or 1 1/16 miles. Even trainer Steve Asmussen questioned how effective his horse could be racing 1 1/8 miles last month in the Fair Grounds Stakes. Then Lagynos went out and ran, at worst, the second-best race of his life, winning by 2 1/4 lengths with a 100 Beyer Speed Figure. “I was so impressed with his last race. Let’s try the mile and an eighth again,” Asmussen said. Jose Ortiz gave Lagynos a beautiful ride in the Fair Grounds, and in just a seven-horse field, he ought to work out another favorable journey. But better racing luck could help Montador turn the tables on Lagynos, and as a rising 4-year-old with just eight runs, Montador holds upside that his main Muniz rivals don’t possess. It’s not that Montador got into compromising trouble last month, but he and jockey Tyler Gaffalione found themselves trapped between and behind horses for most of the Fair Grounds. Montador is a bulky colt with a nice, long run more than a quick burst, and by the time he found room to operate at the eighth pole, Lagynos was gone. Trainer Michael Stidham hopes Gaffalione can work into the clear sooner than last time and said Montador has trained with verve the last five weeks. Stidham runs a second talented 4-year-old, Tom’s Magic, who had an even more compromising trip in his last start. Sent to Florida for the Tampa Bay Stakes on Jan. 31, Tom’s Magic and the five other horses not on the lead had zero chance to run down Quatrocento, a capable front-runner who made the easiest of leads and never came close to being pushed. Tom’s Magic, beaten a head by the Brown-trained Salamis in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby on Nov. 29, finished with interest for second and has room to improve Saturday. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages. There won’t be much pace in the Muniz either. Likely leader Ideratherbeblessed went wire to wire at 86-1 in last year’s renewal, though a second surprise seems improbable. Chasing the Crown needs something considerably better than his Pegasus seventh, while Faber has never run fast enough to come close to contending.