Awesome Aaron becomes a stakes winner with game victory in Pimlico Special

BALTIMORE – Trainer Norm Casse was not present in the winner’s circle at Pimlico Race Course on Friday, but his gelding, Awesome Aaron, was standing tall after a game victory in the Grade 3 Pimlico Special Stakes. Claimed by Casse for $40,000 in September, jockey John Velazquez urged the 6-year-old to his first stakes victory in his 34th career start.

“What a great job Norm [Casse] has done with the horse, for him to get him, little by little, to a much better quality of horses to this race from just an allowance race,” Velazquez said. “It’s a credit to him and the team.”

After going to the front in each of his first three allowance starts, Velazquez and Awesome Aaron settled off the pace in fourth to begin the Pimlico Special while Encino, a 4-year-old colt trained by Brad Cox, established the early lead. Phileas Fogg, the 5-2 second choice trained by Gustavo Rodriguez, could not get to the rail in time after a slow start and angled out to chase the leader into the first turn.

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Encino completed the opening half-mile in 47.17 seconds and continued to lead through three quarters, but the young front-runner, trained by Brad Cox, slowly began to give way to Phileas Fogg. Taking a clear path outside under Kendrick Carmouche, the 5-year-old gelding applied pressure on the far turn and kicked clear to lead by 1 1/2 lengths into the stretch.

Coming off a commanding victory in the $150,000 Excelsior at Aqueduct, Phileas Fogg seemed well on his way to his first graded stakes score when Awesome Aaron came charging down the center of the track. The gelding had moved into third on the backstretch and was already moving into striking position when Phileas Fogg shook off Encino.

Carmouche continued to push Phileas Fogg, who dug in and drifted out to brush his rival in the final run to the wire, but Awesome Aaron would not be denied. Casse’s 6-year-old had to weather some bumping near the wire, but he kept moving past to win by three-quarters of a length. He paid $16.00 to win and completed the 1 3/16-mile race in 1:56.67.

“I knew I was catching him,” Velazquez said. “The problem was when he started coming out and started bumping, that was a little bit worrisome. Once I got him head and head, even with the bump, he went on to pass him.”

Star of Wonder, the 9-5 favorite trained by Brad Cox, picked up a few late places for third but never came close to catching the leaders in his stakes debut.

After the race, Carmouche told Rodriguez that there was little more for Phileas Fogg to do in a game stretch run. The trainer said that he thought the track was too small for his gelding, and that sealing it seemed to affect his performance, even if it was nearly enough to win. In his last six starts going back to August 2024, Phileas Fogg has earned four victories, two in stakes at Aqueduct, and has not finished worse than second.

“Perfect trip, just got run down late,” Carmouche said. “I don’t have no excuse. I thought the horse gave me 1,000 percent the whole way. Just wasn’t our day today. Someone else’s day. Gotta give the gratitude to the horse. You never think you have it until you’re in the winner’s circle, but he ran awesome. He gave me everything he could.”

Awesome Aaron may have escaped many bettors at 7-1 odds, but there were hints that he was due for a massive performance on Friday at Pimlico. In his final allowance start, a 5 3/4-length victory at Oaklawn Park last month, he ran the same distance as Thorpedo Anna on the same card and earned a 104 Beyer Speed, 11 points higher than the figure earned by the reigning Horse of the Year. Others in the Pimlico Special field held a class edge over the gelding, but it’s unlikely that he is disregarded in such a manner again at this level after his performance Friday.

Awesome Aaron and Phileas Fogg, the top finishers in the Pimlico Special by nearly five lengths, both switched barns through a claim last year. While Awesome Aaron was claimed by Casse in a $40,000 claiming race at Churchill Downs in September, Phileas Fogg was claimed by Rodriguez for $62,500 at Saratoga in July. Both geldings have taken massive steps forward since and are now solid stakes contenders with promising summer campaigns ahead.

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