Phileas Fogg holds off Antiquarian in Suburban; Kingsolver best in Schuylerville

Jupiter Stable’s Phileas Fogg withstood the late charge of Antiquarian in Friday’s 139th running of the Suburban (G2), registering his first graded stakes win after holding by a head in the 1 1/4-mile race at Saratoga. Trained by Gustavo Rodriguez, the five-year-old gelding flashed to the front at the break with Kendrick Carmouche, dictating moderate early fractions on a clear lead, and turned for home with a commanding advantage.

Up by three lengths with a furlong remaining, Phileas Fogg built enough of a cushion to prevail. Antiquarian stalked the pace in second from the start and had plenty of work to do leaving the far turn, battling with odds-on favorite Locked as they entered the stretch, but he became a serious factor late as Phileas Fogg began to tire.

The wire came in time for the pacesetter, who rattled off early splits in :23.72, :47.83, and 1:11.48 before stopping the teletimer in 2:02.97. Phileas Fogg, who was haltered for $62,500 from an unplaced finish in a turf claimer at Saratoga last July, has now won five of seven starts for new connections, with a pair of seconds. 

“We are very blessed to have this horse,” said Rodriguez, who served as an assistant to brother Rudy Rodriguez before taking out his training license. “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.”

A convincing winner of the 1 1/4-mile Excelsior at Aqueduct two starts previously, Phileas Fogg was exiting a runner-up finish in the May 16 Pimlico Special (G3), where he didn’t break sharply, tracking the pace in second before advancing to take a clear lead on the far turn. The bay Kentucky-bred wound up a close second to Awesome Aaron, who finished sixth in the Suburban, and Phileas Fogg has proven more effective when controlling the early tempo. 

“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.”

Phileas Fogg was the 6-1 fourth choice in the seven-horse field.

Antiquarian, who was off at 2.90-1, wound up more than six lengths clear of Locked, who was followed by Bendoog and San Siro. Honor Marie trailed.

Bred by Godolphin, Phileas Fogg has now earned $736,773 from an 18-9-4-0 record.

Saratoga also featured the $150,000 Schuylerville for two-year-old fillies on the Fourth of July program, and Kingsolver surged past odds-on favorite My Sweetheart to break her maiden, drawing clear to a two-length decision in her second career start.

A close fifth when debuting in maiden special weight at Churchill Downs 3 1/2 weeks earlier, the Rodolphe Brisset-trained daughter of Omaha Beach left the starting gate as the 3.45-1 second choice among six rivals and had to overcome being steadied on the far turn, rallying determinedly to win convincingly with Flavien Prat. She completed six furlongs in 1:13.17.

My Sweetheart, a smart debut winner on turf at Churchill for Mark Casse, stumbled at the break of her first dirt start but quickly recovered to dispute the early pace, crossing in front of Kingsolver when making her move to the lead. She proved no match for the winner in deep stretch but easily second, two lengths clear of Simone in third. Miss Magical, Bay Yaupon, and Evolution completed the order.

Owned by Storyteller Racing, Michael Schroeck, Open Gate Horse Ventures, Brian Cahoe, Scott Catlett, Dave Russel, Matthew Ransdell, Michael Motley, and Joel Braun, Kingsolver was purchased for $95,000 at the OBS March two-year-old sale earlier this year. She’s the first foal from the unraced Speightstown mare Famous Writer, and the dark bay was bred in Kentucky by George Krikorian.

Kingsolver was named for the Pulitzer Prize-winning American essayist Barbara Kingsolver.

“We did a canoe trip with Barbara Kingsolver, probably 20 years ago,” Mary Nixon of Storyteller Racing said. “I had just read her book Demon Copperhead right before we bought her. I saw Famous Writer, Kentucky connections, we’ve got to name her Kingsolver.”