Kupuna takes them all the way in Listed $200,000 Bernard Baruch presented by Snap-On

Flying P Stable’s Kupuna made every pole a winning one while fending off the onrushing Pass the Hat by a nose to capture Thursday’s Listed $200,000 Bernard Baruch presented by Snap-On, a 1 1/16-mile Mellon turf route for 3-year-olds and up, at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by Norm Casse and piloted by Ricardo Santana, Jr., the 7-year-old Hard Spun gelding returned from a more than six-month layoff to make the grade after a solid string of five works at the Spa, including a half-mile in 49.54 seconds August 27 on the main track.

“I felt like he was going to be a little bit fresh today. If he got covered up – which was kind of the game plan – we may get a little bit aggressive,” Casse said. “He got loose on the lead, his ears were forward, and you could tell he was doing everything comfortably and that he was going to have plenty to keep going.”

Kupuna, who usually races from off-the-pace, was hustled from post 2-of-8 by Santana, Jr. and showed the way through an opening quarter-mile in 24.20 seconds over the good going with Pass the Hat to his outside in second position under Hall of Famer John Velazquez.

“His last work was amazing. And today, I knew he was going to be sharp. I can't believe how fast he broke today,” Santana, Jr. said.

Kupuna maintained his position down the backstretch with Pass the Hat and an advancing Running Bee stalking on the outside in third followed by a ground-saving Grade 1-winner Salamis racing to the inside of Uncle’s Gold as the half-mile elapsed in 48.03.

Uncle’s Gold made a wide bid late in the turn as Kupuna came off the rail with a host of pursuers chasing, including the game Pass the Hat and an inside rush from Risk Tolerance, who loomed large while surging past his Chad Brown-trained stablemate Salamis. But there would be no denying Kupuna, who continued to drift out but won the head bob over an unlucky Pass the Hat, stopping the clock in a final time of 1:41.73.

Santana, Jr. said he was relatively certain he won the photo.

“I had my head down and was riding as hard as I could, but when I picked my head up, I saw the two horses inside of me did not pass me, so I thought I got it. But lucky and blessed to win on this horse,” Santana, Jr. said.

Velazquez said Pass the Hat, a mild 3-1 favorite for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, might have preferred the firmer footing on which he earned a nose victory over stablemate Capitol Hill in the Grade 3 Poker in June here.

“I just think he was having a little bit of a hard time with the ground. When I got after him, he didn't have that quick spurt to continue with the horse in front. Then he kept coming, digging, digging, digging, and he almost got up. I got back here and thought I won the race, I was wrong,” Velazquez said.

Velazquez said his charge wasn’t bothered by the drifting Kupuna.

"No, I was already riding him and riding him, and he was not getting a good grip of it. He [Kupuna] went out, I went inside, tried to keep him moving and he kept digging in. At least he was brave enough to come back,” Velazquez said.

It was a head back to Uncle’s Gold in third with Risk Tolerance, Taking Candy, Fort Washington, Salamis and Running Bee rounding out the order of finish. Main-track only entrants Yo Daddy and Bank Frenzy were scratched.

Kupuna was claimed for $100,000 out of a fourth-place finish on dirt in September 2025 at Churchill Downs. He subsequently hit the board in four turf starts, beginning with an optional-claiming win in November at Churchill. He shipped to Fair Grounds Race Course for a runner-up effort in the Listed Buddy Diliberto Memorial in December and a deep-closing score over Lagynos in the Listed Colonel E. R. Bradley in January. Kupuna arrived from a wide-closing third in the nine-furlong Grade 3 Fair Grounds on February 14, which was won by Lagynos, who exited that effort to win four straight stakes.

Casse said the move to turf was a result of fortunate happenstance.

“It was one of those deals where when we claimed him, there was only one race in the condition book at Churchill that he was actually eligible to run in, and it was a turf race, naturally,” Casse said. “He did have one start on the grass previously that we had noted was OK – he kind of got stopped a few times, but it was more like, our hands were tied where we had to run him.”

Casse was quick to tip his cap to owner Jay Provenzano of Flying P Stable for allowing Kupuna time off after a strong series of races off the claim.

“Jay deserves probably more credit than anybody for this horse. We could’ve continued on with him after the Fair Grounds, but he was adamant that he wanted 90 days off for the horse to get him ready for this spot. When an owner’s adamant about something, you don’t stand in their way, so he deserves a lot of credit today,” Casse said.

Bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings and Greg Biagi, Kupuna banked $110,000 in victory while improving his record to 31-8-9-4. He returned $26.22 for a $2 win bet.

Live racing resumes Friday at Saratoga with an 11-race card featuring the Listed $200,000 P.G. Johnson in Race 4 and the $200,000 Seeking the Ante in Race 7. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.

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