OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Gustavo Rodriguez was standing outside his Belmont Park barn Thursday morning when a saddled horse from another stable, without a rider, came around the corner and was galloping toward him. Unfazed, Rodriguez easily apprehended the horse and returned him to his handlers. Come Saturday, Rodriguez hopes his horse, Phileas Fogg, proves much harder to catch when he attempts to wire what is likely to be just two opponents in the Grade 2, $300,000 Woodward Stakes at Aqueduct. The list of Woodward winners includes some of the game’s greatest Thoroughbreds – Kelso, Forego, Seattle Slew, Affirmed, and Cigar, just to name a few. Apparently, this once-prestigious race has lost its appeal. Seven were entered for this running, but three – Awesome Aaron, Film Star, and Gould’s Gold – are expected to run in Sunday’s $200,000 Battery Park at Delaware Park. Willy D’s was scheduled to run in Saturday’s $500,000 Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs. That leaves Phileas Fogg, Post Time, and Locked, a trio that has combined for 26 wins – 14 stakes – from 39 starts. Phileas Fogg, owned by Steve Shapiro’s Jupiter Stable, holds the clear pace advantage. He can go fast early and keep on going. In July, Phileas Fogg won the Grade 2 Suburban, holding off Antiquarian with Locked a distant third. Antiquarian came back to win the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup. Phileas Fogg crossed the wire third in that race but was disqualified when Kendrick Carmouche allowed his horse to come over, starting a chain reaction of bumping that led to Irad Ortiz Jr. being unseated from Mindframe. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Phileas Fogg didn’t make the lead that day due to the presence of the speedy Contrary Thinking, a pacesetter entered in the race to assist Sierra Leone. Saturday, Phileas Fogg doesn’t appear to have any early pace threats. “If there is another crazy speed, we can let it go and sit no problem,” Rodriguez said. “But for Saturday, if we’re the only speed we got to break and go and hope for the best.” Rodriguez has sat atop Phileas Fogg for his two workouts since the Jockey Club Gold Cup, including a half-mile move Monday in 48 seconds over Belmont’s training track. It proved to be the fastest of 43 works at the distance. “I didn’t even move,” Rodriguez said. “To me, I said maybe I went 48-and-4 or 49. He’s got a long, big stride.” Locked, a Grade 1 winner at 2, missed most of his 3-year-old season due to an odd knee injury. He came back last fall to win two races at Aqueduct, including the Grade 2 Cigar Mile. A poor start did him in at the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream in January, when he finished a well-beaten second behind White Abarrio. :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports He was then shipped to Southern California, where Locked ran a monster race, winning the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap by 8 1/4 lengths. In his last two starts, Locked finished fourth in the Grade 2 Alysheba at Churchill and third in the Suburban. Locked is sent out by trainer Todd Pletcher, whose five wins in the Woodward tie him for the most with Bill Mott. Pletcher felt that Locked may not have cared for Churchill when fourth to Fierceness in the Alysheba and that the Saratoga track was favoring speed in the Suburban. Pletcher, who has three other top-quality older dirt males, has not given up on the idea of Locked being a Breeders’ Cup-type horse. “I don’t feel he showed his best for several reasons. He’s definitely rounding back into form,” said Pletcher, who won this race last year with Tapit Trice. “He still has time to make an impact on the division if he steps up.” John Velazquez, who won those two races here last fall, is reunited with Locked. Post Time, the runner-up from the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, is coming off a 17-length romp against much easier rivals in the Polynesian Stakes at Laurel just three weeks ago. Trainer Brittany Russell said the Woodward was not originally on her radar but said the horse has come out of his last race so well “we thought we should probably find something a little sooner rather than later.” Post Time, ridden by Sheldon Russell, may have to lay closer than he typically has when he’s faced good horses. “He’s Post Time, it just depends on what he wants to do that day,” Brittany Russell said. “He broke good last time and did everything right, but he always does everything right at home. Does he want to take his show on the road? We’ll find out.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.