SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – Phileas Fogg went gate-to-wire to win the Suburban (G2) by a head over a fast-charging Antiquarian in Friday’s $400,000 feature at Saratoga Race Course. The 1 1/4-mile race for older horses was part of the July 4th Racing Festival and marked a major milestone for trainer Gustavo Rodriguez, who earned his first career graded stakes victory.
Breaking sharply from the rail under Kendrick Carmouche, Phileas Fogg set steady fractions of 23.72, 47.83, 1:11.48, and 1:36.02 over a fast main track. Despite a late surge from Antiquarian, who loomed large under Hall of Famer John Velazquez, Phileas Fogg dug in and held on to win in a final time of 2:02.97.
The win was especially meaningful for Rodriguez, who claimed Phileas Fogg for $62,500 at Saratoga last July. Since then, the 5-year-old son of Astern has won the Excelsior and Queens County, both listed stakes at Aqueduct, and now adds his first graded win after finishing second in the Pimlico Special (G3) in May.
“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.”
Carmouche credited a smart trip and strong finish from the horse.
“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.”
Antiquarian, who won the Peter Pan (G3) last season and finished second last out in the Blame (G3), once again showed class despite a familiar mid-race issue.
“He goes through the first turn in hand, but the second turn, he loses concentration and then you have to ride him,” Velazquez said. “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.”
Phileas Fogg paid $14.40 to win and improved his record to 9-4-0 from 18 starts, with earnings now totaling $736,773.
Behind Antiquarian, it was another 6 1/4 lengths back to his Todd Pletcher-trained stablemate Locked, the 4-5 favorite. Locked tracked in third early but couldn’t mount a rally and settled for third. Bendoog, San Siro, Awesome Aaron, and Honor Marie completed the order of finish. Disarm was scratched.
Locked came in off a fourth-place finish in the Alysheba (G2) and previously romped in the Santa Anita Handicap (G1), earning a 109 Beyer. But on this day, he lacked the finishing punch.
“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.”
