Phileas Fogg (inside) prevails in the Suburban (Joe Labozzetta)
Brian Bohl/NYRA Press Office
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Jupiter Stable’s Phileas Fogg broke to the front from the inside post and led through every point of call before holding off Antiquarian’s late surge by a head for a thrilling finish in winning Friday’s Grade 2, $400,000 Suburban presented by Subourbon, a 1 1/4-mile test for older horses, during the July 4th Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course.
The victory gave trainer Gustavo Rodriguez his first career graded stakes win, accomplishing the feat at a historic track, and gave the 5-year-old son of Astern his first graded stakes win in his second attempt after a runner-up effort in the Grade 3 Pimlico Special in May gave the connections the confidence to enter the 139th edition of the Suburban.
Phileas Fogg broke alert under jockey Kendrick Carmouche and led the seven-horse field through fractions of :23.72 seconds, 47.83, 1:11.48 and 1:36.02 over a fast main track. In the stretch, Phileas Fogg did not falter, sustaining through all 10 furlongs despite Antiquarian, under Hall of Famer John Velazquez, making a furious bid from the outside, nearly drawing even before Phileas Fogg hit the wire in 2:02.97 to secure the win.
Antiquarian finished 6 1/4 lengths ahead of his Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher-trained stablemate and 4-5 favorite Locked for second. Bendoog ran fourth, with San Siro, Awesome Aaron and Honor Marie completing the order of finish. Disarm scratched.
For Rodriguez, the win marked a milestone in a journey that started when Phileas Fogg was a $62,500 claim last July at Saratoga. Since that prudent decision, the veteran Kentucky-bred captured the Listed Excelsior and Listed Queens County at Aqueduct Racetrack. He has been in first or second position at every first call for current connections and improved to 9-4-0 in 18 career starts.
“We are very blessed to have this horse,” Rodriguez said. “He is a nice horse. This is unbelievable. A beautiful feeling to win these kinds of races. The last sixteenth to the wire, I was very, very worried about getting beat, and he almost did. We were screaming like you have no idea. Kendrick is a very, very good rider, but on top of that, he’s very, very smart.”
Rodriguez, who served as a long-time assistant to his brother and NYRA mainstay Rudy Rodriguez, garnered his first graded stakes victory in a prestigious race that has seen multiple Hall of Famers claim wins, including Easy Goer, Forego, Foolish Pleasure, Dr. Fager, Kelso, Bold Ruler and Nashua, among others.
Phileas Fogg paid $14.40 on a $2 win wager and improved his career earnings to $736,773.
“The horse warmed up very well,” Carmouche said. “I thought only one thing to do out the one hole. Play a little cat and mouse going around and I held off in the final sixteenth. You know he was kind of getting a little late on me there but as soon as he felt that horse [Antiquarian] coming, he kind of leveled off again and Gustavo and these owners, they’ve done such a good job. What a wonderful claim. They have this horse as consistent as you can have a racehorse. They give him enough time in between races, good horses like this and you know what, this is the outcome of it to win the Suburban.”
Added Rodriguez: “Before the race, we were very happy when we looked at everything [in the past performances]. I said, ‘we look good,’ to myself. I was hoping we didn’t get pressed too much, and hoped for the best. He was training good every day. He never had a bad day.”
Centennial Farms’ Antiquarian, backed by a potent Hall of Fame duo in Pletcher and Velazquez, entered off a second-place finish to Mystik Dan in the nine-furlong Grade 3 Blame on May 31 at Churchill Downs. The 4-year-old son of Preservationist made his mark when winning the 2024 Grade 3 Peter Pan at Belmont at the Big A before running fifth in last year’s Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets.
Antiquarian has now finished first or second in six of his eight career starts, though Velazquez said he’s had some issues in the far turn.
“I don’t know why he doesn’t run the second turn,” Velazquez said. “Last time, he did the same thing, so I had him ready this time to make sure he doesn’t back up in the turn…and then, he backed up in the turn, he waited and came back again.
“He goes through the first turn in hand, but the second turn, he loses concentration and then you have to ride him. I got after him and he came running…it’s like, ‘why can’t you just stay where I want you, you know?’ I hate to put blinkers on him because the first part of the race, he’s on the bridle – he only does it second turn,” he added.
Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm’s Locked, also trained by Pletcher, entered as the heavy favorite following a fourth in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 Alysheba on May 2 at Churchill Downs in which stablemate Fierceness set a track record.
Locked had posted a career-best 109 Beyer Speed Figure two starts back when capturing the 10-furlong Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap by 8 1/2 lengths on March 1 at its namesake oval. But after tracking in third position through the early going, the son of Hall of Famer Gun Runner could not make up the difference in the stretch.
“He broke good. He put me forward where I wanted to be,” said Locked rider Jose Ortiz. “I’d rather be outside, but this was the card I was dealt today. He was traveling good. I was expecting a run at the end, but he didn’t have it.”
Live racing resumes Saturday for Day Three of the July 4th Racing Festival with a 12-race card highlighted by the Grade 1, $500,000 Belmont Oaks Invitational [Race 11]. The stacked program is supported by the Grade 3, $175,000 Sanford [Race 3] and the Grade 3, $175,000 Kelso [Race 10]. First post is 12:35 p.m. Eastern.
Statistics for the 37-day Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet will include the July 4th Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course.
