SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The depth of the older male dirt division is such that six days after a star-studded group competed in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs, Friday’s Grade 2, $400,000 Suburban Stakes at Saratoga came up with a quality field. Locked, who was dominant winning the Santa Anita Handicap in March to become a two-time Grade 1 winner, heads the cast of eight that includes the Pimlico Special one-two finishers Awesome Aaron and Phileas Fogg, who have combined to win six of their last eight starts, as well as graded stakes winners Honor Marie, Disarm, and Anitquarian. Bendoog, second in this race last year, and San Siro, second in the Grade 3 Ben Ali in April, also are entered. Locked and Antiquarian are trained by Todd Pletcher, who has won the last three runnings of the Suburban and four of the last eight. Locked is part of an accomplished roster of older dirt males trained by Pletcher that includes Stephen Foster victor Mindframe, now a two-time Grade 1 winner, and Alysheba Stakes winner Fierceness, who is a three-time Grade 1 winner. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Locked never had finished worse than third before he ran fourth in the Grade 2 Alysheba behind Fierceness, who set a track record 1:40.66 for 1 1/16 miles. The early pace of the Alysheba was slow and that may have worked against Locked, who, in fairness, may also have regressed after running a 109 Beyer Speed Figure winning the Santa Anita Handicap by 8 1/2 lengths in his previous start. “It was a slow pace that ended up with a track record final time,” Pletcher said, referring to the Alysheba. “You’re trying to make up ground into a slow pace . . . to go from a 48 [half-mile] to a track record, those horses were running. It wasn’t like he was losing ground, it was just hard to make up ground.” Pletcher said he believes Locked will “appreciate getting stretched back out to a mile and a quarter. Hopefully, he gets an honest pace to run at.” The pace of the Suburban figures to be set by Phileas Fogg, a 5-year-old gelding who has four wins and two seconds – beaten a combined length in those defeats – in the six starts since Gustavo Rodriguez claimed him for $62,500 last July here for owner Steve Shapiro’s Jupiter Stable. Phileas Fogg won the 1 1/4-mile Excelsior at Aqueduct in April before finishing second, three-quarters of a length behind Awesome Aaron, in the Grade 3 Pimlico Special on May 16 in Baltimore. Phileas Fogg sat second in each of the those races, but had success on the front end prior to that and Rodriguez expects jockey Kendrick Carmouche to use Phileas Fogg’s speed breaking from the rail on Friday. “There’s no speed,” Rodriguez said. “I think we can break good and stay there and hope for the best. It’s not going to be a walk in the park.” On June 20, Phileas Fogg worked a fast five furlongs at Belmont Park. He came back last Saturday with another sharp five-furlong move in 1:00.40, both under Carmouche. “The way he did it, [Carmouche] was like a statue, beautiful,” Rodriguez said. “And the gallop-out was beautiful that day. Kendrick was very, very happy with the way he worked.” Awesome Aaron was claimed last September for $40,000 by trainer Norm Casse on behalf of Frank Turman and AJ Suited Racing. After five defeats, Casse took blinkers off Awesome Aaron, who responded with a 5 3/4-length allowance win at Oaklawn Park on April 12 before his victory over Phileas Fogg in the Pimlico Special, his first start beyond 1 1/16 miles. “Once he collared that horse he had plenty left and I feel like the mile and a quarter is within his reach,” Casse said. Awesome Aaron, who has been training in Saratoga for a month, will be ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. in the Suburban. John Velazquez rode him in the Pimlico Special, but he is committed to Antiquarian. Antiquarian won the Grade 3 Peter Pan last year and finished fifth in the Belmont Stakes, his final race as a 3-year-old. Following a freshening, he returned with an allowance win going seven furlongs at Gulfstream Park in April and a runner-up finish behind 2024 Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan in the Grade 3 Blame at Churchill on May 31. Pletcher said he is pleased with the way Antiquarian has trained since the Blame and believes Antiquarian is “a better horse this year.” Disarm, trained by Steve Asmussen, beat Bendoog, trained by Bill Mott, a neck in a 1 1/16-mile allowance at Oaklawn in March. Disarm came out of that race to run fourth in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap while Bendoog came back to win a stakes-caliber allowance going 1 1/8 miles at Aqueduct on May 4. San Siro, trained by Brendan Walsh, finished fourth in the Pimlico Special after needing a shoe repair in the paddock. The Suburban goes as race 10 on an 11-race card that begins at 1:10 p.m. and includes four other stakes, including the Grade 1, $750,000 Belmont Derby for 3-year-olds on the turf. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.