Watch: Equine Worth $415,250 in Intense Last Stretch Battle at Grade 1 Equestrian Race Performs a Notable Feat

Horse training, stamina, speed, play, and experience play a vital role in winning equestrian races. But, you have seldom seen a horse who, without experience, wins a race with the other three-pointers on his side. At the Grade 1 Saratoga Invitational Derby 2023, the equestrian enthusiast has seen such an equine. The equine name is Program Trading, a three-year-old colt who defied the odds and created the upset.

The son of Lope de Vega is trained by four time Eclipse Award winning trainer Chad Brown. The colt stood to the trainer’s expectation and won the race in his debut appearance on the track. It was an intense battle where, despite losing the lead, Program Trading managed to win in the last stages.

Chad Brown trained colt creates upset at Saratoga Invitational

The Klaravich Stables owned colt has started his racing career this year. Before coming to the $600,000 Saratoga Invitational Derby, Program Trading had two starts, of which he won them both. His first race was at Monmouth Park, which he won by a five-length in May. His next was at Belmont Park, which he won by a two and one-fourth length in June. These two wins brought confidence in trainer Chad Brown and he debuted him at the stakes.

Worth $415,250 colt started the race from post 2 under the command of Flavien Prat. In the start of the race, the colt took the lead in one three-sixteenth mile Mellon turf track. In the initial stage, he finished the quarter mile and half mile in 23.74 and 49.59. He was chased by Lion of War and Mondego for a second and third position. But later on, as the race progressed, Webslinger under Javier Castellano started to pick up the rivals and taking the lead. After the sixth pole in the final run, it seemed Webslinger had a comfortable lead, but Flavien pushed the colt for the last stretch.

Now, for a moment, there was contention between three – Far Bridge, Webslinger, and Program Trading. Later in the final stage, the contention reduced to between two – Webslinger and Program Trading, which the latter won in 1:56.63. Far Bridge came third behind Webslinger with one and a half lengths difference. This is the first stake win for the three-year-old colt. The win brought smile to the face of the trainer who had put his trust in him despite odds.

Chad Brown Happy with Program Trading

Chad Brown was a happy and relieved man after the race. He introduced an inexperienced horse in the derby. Chad said, “It was really a special performance, this horse really dug in and showed a lot of heart to do that in only his third start moving up to a major race like this.” He further said that, “We always thought he had ability and he may have had the advantage of fresh legs so to speak because the horses who were behind him had long seasons. But he did have some inexperience he had to overcome.” The colt overcame his inexperience with speed and stamina.

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The jockey Flavien Prat was happy with the horse’s performance. He said, “He showed good speed and got us into the race. I was traveling well all the way around“. He also mentioned that the horse was happy but close contention of Webslinger created a problem for a while but once Program Trading got an eye on the target, he chased it down.

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