Phileas Fogg holds on by a whisker over Antiquarian to take Suburban

Bettors of Phileas Fogg in Friday’s Grade 2 Suburban at Saratoga got quite the scare at the wire of the 1 1/4-mile race. After breaking on top and leading through fractions of 23.72 seconds for the opening quarter and 47.83 for the half, Phileas Fogg looked like a sure winner in the stretch. However, Antiquarian, who pressed Phileas Fogg from the onset, began running that one down and just missed by a nose.

Phileas Fogg, with Kendrick Carmouche aboard for trainer Gustavo Rodriguez, landed his first graded stakes victory. The 5-year-old gelding entered Saturday off a second-place finish in the Grade 3 Pimlico Special, won by Awesome Aaron, who was also in Friday’s field. Prior to that start, Phileas Fogg won the 1 1/4-mile Excelsior Stakes at Aqueduct.

“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," Carmouche said to track publicity of the former claimer.

Behind the top two was Locked, the 4-5 favorite. Locked, trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by Jose Ortiz, seemed to never get going and could only muster third. Antiquarian, also trained by Pletcher, had John Velazquez aboard Friday. Locked won the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap two starts ago but ran well below form in his seasonal bow in the Alysheba, won by stablemate Fierceness.

Velazquez and Pletcher were confused over why Antiquarian continues to lose focus during races, especially on the second turn where he has a tendency to back up a touch.

“I don’t know why he doesn’t run the second turn. 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," Velazquez said.

“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."

Bendoog, San Siro, Awesome Aaron, and Honor Marie completed the field. Phileas Fogg ran the distance over fast dirt in 2:02.97 and paid $14.40.

Options for older dirt horses going long at Saratoga include the Grade 1 Whitney on Aug. 2 and the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup on Aug. 31. Both races are part of the Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” program, where the winner earns a fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup Classic. While it’s unclear where Friday’s top two will start next, Pletcher has Fierceness pointed to the Whitney, and possibly Mindframe, arguably the top older dirt horse in the country after his victory in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster.

Earlier on the card, Kingsolver broke her maiden with a victory in the $250,000 Schuylerville for 2-year-old fillies going six furlongs. With Flavien Prat aboard for trainer Rodolphe Brisset, Kingsolver ran down favored My Sweetheart and paid $8.90 for the win.

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