Antiquarian has Suburban up next

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Antiquarian, fourth in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap, will make his next start in the Grade 2, $500,000 Suburban Stakes at Saratoga on July 4, Don Little Jr., president of Centennial Farms, confirmed Monday.

Antiquarian finished second, beaten a head by Phileas Fogg in last year’s Suburban, then came back later in the 2025 Saratoga meet to win the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup. He ended his campaign with an eighth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Antiquarian kicked off his 5-year-old season with a 5 3/4-length victory in the Grade 3 Westchester at Aqueduct before getting beat six lengths by Nysos in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap on June 6. In that race, Antiquarian was surprisingly dueling for the early lead.

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“Johnny [Velaquez] was apologetic. He wanted to save position the way the chute is set up,” Little said. “We know he’s not a mile horse, we know we were taking a bit of a shot and maybe it cost us a placing going out there. The good thing is we live to fight another day.”

Antiquarian, trained by Todd Pletcher, returned to the work tab last Friday, working an easy half-mile in 51.60 seconds over Saratoga’s Oklahoma training track.

Meanwhile, Little reported that Nearly, the Grade 3 Holy Bull winner who was sidelined due to a hind ankle issue following a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Florida Derby, will soon rejoin Pletcher’s Saratoga stable. The goal is to have him ready this fall, with the $200,000 Dwyer Stakes at Belmont Park on Nov. 7 a potential first race back provided all goes well.

“We all know how good a horse he is. We should have an exciting end of the year and next year with him,” Little said.

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