With Belmont Stakes in mind, Antiquarian wins Peter Pan

New York

When everything goes according to plan, it is hard to beat Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. That is exactly what happened Saturday when Antiquarian got the trainer his fifth victory in the Grade 3, $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes in the Belmont at Aqueduct meet.

Antiquarian, sent off as the 5-1 third choice in the betting, was making the fourth start of his career that began in January with a second-place finish in a one-mile maiden race at Gulfstream Park. After again pressing the pace, he got his first victory at Fair Grounds on a sloppy and sealed track. Antiquarian then moved onto the Kentucky Derby trail in the Louisiana Derby (G2), where he was agitated before the race, broke through the starting gate, never did regain his composure and finished sixth..

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“Nothing went right in Louisiana the last time,” Pletcher said. “For some reason he got anxious and broke through the gate beforehand. You know it’s sometimes hard to overcome that. He came back and trained really well like he always has. We’ve always had confidence that the further he went, the better he would get.”

The Peter Pan, which is the local prep race for the Belmont Stakes, had a smaller than expected field of six after one of the 3-year-olds, Lonesome Boy, opted to run in the Long Branch Stakes at Monmouth Park and then Chad Brown decided Tuscan Gold would run in the Preakness next Saturday.

The two-turn, 1 1/8-mile contest began with Unique Insight setting the pace followed closely to the outside by 6-5 favorite The Wine Steward with Antiquarian a length behind them in the three-path. The top three stayed that way as they set a pace of 23.95, 47.96, 1:11.62 and 1:36.23.

At the top of the stretch The Wine Steward challenged Unique Insight and eventually got to the front. Meanwhile, jockey John Velazquez had Antiquarian gaining ground with a five-wide trip, overcame some bumping and went by to win by three-quarters of a length with a final time of 1:48.99.

“The main thing is we just wanted to let him get into his rhythm,” Pletcher said. “He had to sacrifice a little bit of ground to do that, but he was always traveling well. He took a bit of a bump from other horses in the middle of a stretch. Johnny said it actually made him more competitive and kept him going.”

Antiquarian, who was bought for $220,000 as a yearling and is owned by Centennial Farms, earned $110,000 for the victory and increased his earnings to $173,000. At the betting windows he paid $13.80, $5.30 and $3.50 across the board. The Wine Steward hung on for second and completed a $2 exacta for $30.40. At 6-1 Protective completed a $2 trifecta with a $102.50 payoff. The early leader Unique Insight held on to get fourth.

The plan for Antiquarian was to race in the Belmont Stakes after the Peter Pan if he performed as expected. This year, instead of 1 1/2 miles, the third leg of the Triple Crown will be run as a 1 1/4-mile race at Saratoga on June 8 while Belmont Park is getting renovated.

“That’s what we were thinking coming into this, and he certainly earned his way in today if everything goes smoothly,” Pletcher said.