Strong field of eight set for Suburban showdown

With the talk of the older dirt male division centered around Mindframe’s victory in the Stephen Foster and if he’ll meet stablemate Fierceness in the Whitney, eight older horses look to jump into the divisional conversation in Friday’s Grade 2 Suburban at Saratoga.

Traditionally run at Belmont but being held at Saratoga this year due to ongoing renovations at Belmont, the 1 1/4-mile Suburban dates back to 1884 and will be run for the 139th time on Friday.

Former claimer Awesome Aaron used a game victory in the Grade 3 Pimlico Special to announce his presence in the division, defeating runner-up Phileas Fogg, who also runs Friday. Awesome Aaron was claimed by trainer Norm Casse for $40,000 last September. Hitting career-best form with a fast victory in an allowance race at Oaklawn Park in April, Awesome Aaron went on to outduel Phileas Fogg in the Pimlico Special for his first stakes victory. The 6-year-old gelding will get Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard for the first time from the far outside post and is the 7-2 second choice on the morning line.

Phileas Fogg also entered the Pimlico Special off a win, taking the Excelsior at Aqueduct going 1 1/4 miles. The 5-year-old gelding won an off-turf allowance last year at Saratoga to start a six-race stretch where he won four times and finished second twice. Kendrick Carmouche will be back aboard from the rail for trainer Gustavo Rodriguez with program odds of 5-1.

Saratoga’s all-time leading jockey John Velazquez was aboard Awesome Aaron in the Pimlico Special but switches to the Todd Pletcher-trained Antiquarian Friday. Antiquarian won the Grade 3 Peter Pan last year and finished second to Mystik Dan most recently in the Grade 3 Blame. Mystik Dan went on to run a decent fourth in the Foster. Antiquarian also finished fifth in the Belmont at Saratoga last year. One spot ahead of him in that race was the late-running Honor Marie, trained by Whit Beckman, who also runs Friday with Ben Curtis aboard. Honor Marie will actually be cutting back in distance, having won the 1 1/2-mile Isaac Murphy at Churchill Downs last out. 

Disarm returns to Saratoga, where he finished second in the 2023 Travers, and last year finished fourth in the Whitney and third in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. He finished fourth in the Oaklawn Handicap last out, won by First Mission who finished third in the Blame. Banishing finished second in the Oaklawn Handicap and then second in the Hanshin. 

A lot of the talk Friday will be about Locked, who’s looking to rebound from a fourth-place finish in the Alysheba. Locked is part of Pletcher’s loaded older male barn led by Mindframe and Fierceness. Locked picked up his second Grade 1 win in the Santa Anita Handicap two starts back. As a 2-year-old, Locked won the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland and then ran third as the favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Regular rider Jose Ortiz will be aboard Friday and the pair are pegged as the 8-5 morning-line favorite.

The Suburban goes as race 10 on an 11-race card that features five stakes and begins at 1:10 p.m. Eastern.

Schuylerville

The $150,000 Schuylerville for 2-year-old fillies at six furlongs begins the stakes action Friday as the day’s second race. The field of six features just two winners, with My Sweetheart, a debut winner on turf for Mark Casse, as a top contender. The Flameaway filly will get Frankie Dettori back aboard and is the narrow 2-1 morning-line favorite.

Bay Yaupon, for trainer Gary Contessa and jockey Junior Alvarado, makes her career debut in this spot. A member of Yaupon’s first crop, Bay Yaupon is out of the Candy Ride mare Golden Star Lady, who has just one other runner. So far, Yaupon has had five progeny to race, with two first-out winners. Among those is Sassy C W, who won the Astoria at Saratoga in her second start and is entered in a stakes at Prairie Meadows Friday.

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