SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – In the year of COVID-19 where so much has changed, Saturday’s Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga has a familiar feel to it with many of the top older male dirt route horses congregating in one place. True, this Whitney has only five horses – making it the shortest field since 1988 when the immortal filly Personal Ensign beat two rivals – but four of the five are ranked among the top seven older dirt males by Daily Racing Form’s Dan Illman. Tom’s d’Etat (ranked 2nd) and Code of Honor (5th) will be joined in the starting gate by Improbable (6th) and By My Standards (7th). The New York-bred Mr. Buff completes the compact group, and while he’s floundered against open company, he did win a restricted stakes by 20 lengths earlier this year. Trainer Al Stall Jr., who a decade ago won a stirring renewal of the Whitney with Blame, will send out Tom’s d’Etat as the strong favorite in the 1 1/8-mile race. Trainer Shug McGaughey will seek his fourth Whitney victory with Code of Honor, while trainer Bob Baffert sends out Improbable and is seeking a second straight Whitney victory. At 7, Tom’s d’Etat will look to join Commentator as the second-oldest horses to win the Whitney. Commentator was 7 when he won his second Whitney in 2012. Kelso was 8 in 1965 when he won his third Whitney. Like Blame in 2010, Tom’s d’Etat brings a four-race winning streak into the Whitney, which offers an automatic berth into the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 7. As first pointed out by the New York Racing Association’s Ryan Martin, Blame and Tom’s d’Etat have remarkably similar past performances entering the Whitney. They both won both the Fayette and Clark the previous fall and the Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs in their race preceding the Whitney. Blame was more of a grinder who would come with a furious late run in his races like he did in the 2010 Whitney when he nailed Quality Road in the last jump. Tom’s d’Etat is more versatile and has become dominant. Three of his last four victories have been by three lengths or more, including a 4 1/4-length romp over By My Standards in which he came within .02 of the Churchill Downs track record for 1 1/8 miles set in 1999 by Victory Gallop, who also won the Whitney that year. In the Stephen Foster, jockey Miguel Mena had Tom’s d’Etat within a length of the pace. In the Oaklawn Mile, Tom’s d’Etat rallied from eighth to win by three-quarters of a length over Improbable, who would come back to win the Hollywood Gold Cup at Santa Anita. :: Play Saratoga with DRF! Visit our Saratoga shop for DRF PPs, Picks, Betting Strategies, and Clocker Reports “He’s his normal laid-back self,” Stall said of Tom’s d’Etat. “That most probably contributes to his longevity; he does what he wants and when he wants to do it. But when you turn him on, it’s there. That’s a luxury.” Though based in Kentucky, Tom’s d’Etat is no stranger to Saratoga. He is 3 for 4 here with wins in 2016 and 2017. Last year, he won the Alydar Stakes before running fourth in the Grade 1 Woodward with what Stall described as “an awkward trip.” Though the Saratoga main track is new this year, Stall believes Tom’s d’Etat has relished it. “I really think he likes this surface,” Stall said. “There’s never been a surface he’s never really not liked.” Tom’s d’Etat will break from post 5 under Joel Rosario, who is 5 for 5 on the horse. Code of Honor is 2 for 2 at Saratoga, winning a maiden race at 2 and the Travers last year. In terms of early positioning in the race, the only thing that is virtually certain is that Code of Honor will be last early under John Velazquez, who is seeking his fifth Whitney success. McGaughey, who has won this race with Personal Ensign, Easy Goer, and Honor Code, is hoping for some pace with Mr. Buff and perhaps Tom’s d’Etat and maybe Improbable mixing it up early. “It’ll be interesting to see what the tactics are with only five,” McGaughey said. “I know where I’m going to be. What the others are going to do and how much they’re going to press . . . Joel is not going to do anything stupid, but hopefully he’ll be up there fairly close as he was in the Stephen Foster and we’re able to pick him up. It’s a pretty solid field. I feel like we’re lucky to be in it. I think if he runs his race they’ll know he’s there.” Bob Baffert won last year’s Whitney with McKinzie. This year, he has shipped Improbable cross-country off a 3 1/4-length victory in the Hollywood Gold Cup. His lack of consistency can be attributed to poor breaks from the gate, something that seems to plague him outside of Southern California. “Small field, hope for a quick load time and a quick start,” said Jimmy Barnes, Baffert’s assistant who is overseeing the four-horse string currently in town. “He’s run good at home, he’s got to carry his home performance on the road.” By My Standards had a three-race winning streak snapped when he was second to Tom’s d’Etat in the Stephen Foster. Though By My Standards has trained well out of that race, trainer Bret Calhoun is wondering how to turn the tables on Tom’s d’Etat. “We just got to be better,” Calhoun said. Mr. Buff will attempt to join Diversify and Commentator as recent New York-breds to win the Whitney. Mr. Buff has faltered multiple times in open company, but trainer John Kimmel said Mr. Buff was not totally over a bruised foot leading up to his fifth-place finish in the July 4 Suburban. The Whitney goes as race 9 on a 12-race card that includes the Grade 1 Personal Ensign, headlined by the champion mare Midnight Bisou; the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens, which drew 11 3-year-old sprinters; the Grade 2 Bowling Green, and the listed Caress.