Locked got up in the final jumps to collar pacesetter Phileas Fogg. (Adam Coglianese/NYRA)
By Keith McCalmont
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm’s Locked got up in the final jumps to collar pacesetter Phileas Fogg and capture Saturday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Woodward, a nine-furlong route for 3-year-olds and up, at Belmont at the Big A.
The Woodward scratched down to a three-horse field after Willy D’s opted to run in the Grade 2 Lukas Classic today at Churchill Downs, while the trio of Awesome Aaron, Film Star and Gould’s Gold are entered in Sunday’s Battery Park at Delaware Park.
Locked, boasting Hall of Fame connections of trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey John Velazquez, stalked from second position as the Kendrick Carmouche-piloted Phileas Fogg showed the way while well off the rail through splits of 24.89 seconds, 48.69 and 1:12.03 over the fast main track.
Post Time advanced to the outside of a scrubbed-on Locked into the final turn as Phileas Fogg maintained a 1 1/2-length advantage at the stretch call. Post Time spun his wheels in upper stretch and a rail-running Locked seemed unable to make up ground on the frontrunner until tipped to the outside inside the final sixteenth. Phileas Fogg dug in gamely but Locked would not be denied the three-quarter-length victory in a final time of 1:48.11. It was 3 1/2-lengths back to Post Time in third.
“It’s a three-horse race, so you have to change everything when it’s three horses. It’s about if the horse will allow you to do what you want to do,” Velazquez said. “He allowed me to [do] whatever I wanted to do, and I know Kendrick, he’s a smart guy. He’s going to park me over there, so I think I’m going to be inside and whenever he sees me, he’s going to come back in. He rode a really good race because he waited until past the three-sixteenths pole to the eighth pole to see me and then come in. Once I got out, I was close enough that I was going to be there to come out and my horse responded right away.”
Locked, a 4-year-old Gun Runner chestnut, is a dual Grade 1-winner with scores in the 2023 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland and the Santa Anita Handicap in March. He completed his sophomore season in December here with an impressive score in the Grade 2 Cigar Mile Handicap.
Locked, who was making his first start since finishing third to the victorious Phileas Fogg in the Grade 2 Suburban presented by Subourbon on July 4 at Saratoga, provided Pletcher a standalone record sixth Woodward win after previous victories with Lawyer Ron [2007], Quality Road [2010], Liam’s Map [2015], Life Is Good [2022] and Tapit Trice [2024].
“We are very pleased. He’s an honest, hard-trying horse,” said Pletcher assistant Stu Hampson. “He has an affinity for this track. By all accounts, this horse was back in old form in Saratoga when breezing. Today, when Johnny [Velazquez] put him in the clear, he did what we were hoping he’d do.
“It was a tricky race [with three horses]. We can’t control what we can’t control,” Hampson added. “The pace scenario today was one of those things, but we knew this horse was doing great. He likes this track, and we had a Hall of Famer in the saddle, and thankfully we ended up on the right end today.”
Carmouche said the Gustavo Rodriguez-trained Phileas Fogg was valiant in defeat.
“Perfect trip. Perfect fractions just got run down. No excuse,” Carmouche said. “I thought Locked was a horse that not getting the kickback in his face [would mean] he’d run a little better. I figured that much. He could have stayed a little closer to me, but I’m not getting the dirt kicked into his face and I said, ‘that’s going to be the determination the last quarter of a mile.’ As you can see, he came back clean, and that’s the one that ran me down. My horse ran his heart out, just second best today.”
LOCKED wins the Grade 2 Woodward Stakes with @ljlmvel aboard for trainer @PletcherRacing. pic.twitter.com/AkUxqnnSMp
— NYRA () (@TheNYRA) September 27, 2025
Bred in Kentucky by Rosa Colasanti, Locked banked $165,000 in victory while improving his record to 11-6-1-3. He returned $4.46 for a $2 win bet as the 6-5 second choice. A $425,000 purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Locked is out of the winning Malibu Moon mare Luna Rosa, a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-winners Gabby’s Golden Gal and Always a Princess.
Live racing resumes Sunday at Belmont at the Big A with a nine-race card featuring the $150,000 Gio Ponti in Race 8. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
