Program Trading continues winning form at Monmouth, taking the United Nations
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Three years and two months ago the now 5-year-old ridgling Program Trading launched his racing career with a five-length maiden win over the Monmouth Park grass course, and it was at Monmouth on Saturday where Program Trading scored the most decisive stakes win of his career, romping in the United Nations Stakes by 2 3/4 lengths.
Program Trading last month won the Monmouth Stakes, his prep for the Grade 2, $500,000 United Nations, and now is unbeaten in three local grass starts. Chad Brown trained his record-setting seventh U.N. winner, while Brown, jockey Flavien Prat, and Klaravich Stable won the race for the second straight year.
Program Trading followed the same route into the U.N. as Redistricting a year earlier, taking defeats in the Muniz Memorial at Fair Grounds and the Turf Classic at Churchill before outclassing lesser rivals in the Monmouth Stakes. Like Redistricting, Program Trading made his three-turn debut in the 1 3/8-mile United Nations, the longest race of his career, and like his predecessor he had no trouble staying the trip.
Prat dropped Program Trading back toward the tail of a seven-horse field as Irad Ortiz Jr. sent Just a Touch up to grab an early lead, with Program Trading ahead of only 64-1 shot Eldest Son as Uncle’s Gold prompted Just a Touch through splits of 24.29 and 49.62. Racing over a course downgraded mid-card from firm to “good,” Just a Touch led into the last of three turns but was a spent force by the three-furlong marker, and as he faded out of contention, Prat stoked up Program Trading. Riding like he was on the best horse in the race, Prat simply circled the field, turning for home about seven paths from the rail but with all the momentum. Program Trading flipped onto his proper lead just past the three-sixteenths marker and the U.N. was over.
While no match for the winner, Uncle’s Gold was easily second best, finishing four lengths clear of third-place Thundering. Just a Touch, the 19-10 second choice, was eased but walked off the course. Program Trading paid $3.80 to win and clocked 2:22.03 for his 11 furlongs.
“Everything went well, the soft ground, a good pace, and he relaxed well for me,” Prat said. “It’s good to see him back at this top level. I think this race will give him a ton of confidence, and that's what he needed.”
Program Trading, by Lope de Vega out of Dreamlike, by Oasis Dream, is a multiple Grade 1 winner, but after winning the second of those top-level races, the Turf Classic in May 2024 at Churchill Downs, Program Trading finished fifth in the Manhattan, then didn’t race again for 14 months. He lost seven straight starts after his comeback, but a return to Monmouth, where his career began, has turned Program Trading’s career back the right direction.
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