Well-behaved Antiquarian proves best in Peter Pan

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A better behaved Antiquarian showed his true talent in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes at Aqueduct, pulling away late from favored The Wine Steward to win by three-quarters of a length and likely earn a spot in the $2 million Belmont Stakes at Saratoga.

Antiquarian came into the Peter Pan off a sixth-place finish in the Louisiana Derby, a race in which he broke through the starting gate before the official start of the race, yet ran on well into deep stretch before getting beat four lengths.

Saturday, Antiquarian was well-behaved in the paddock and in the gate, according to his rider John Velazquez. He took up a stalking three-wide position behind Unique Insight and The Wine Steward down the backstretch, that pair a half-length apart through a half-mile in 47.96 seconds.

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The Wine Steward, under Luis Saez, confronted Unique Insight at the three-eighths pole but struggled to finally get past that one until inside the eighth pole. But Antiquarian, who followed the move of The Wine Steward, quickly confronted that rival and was able push past him in the final 70 yards. The Wine Steward finished second by 1 1/4 lengths over the maiden Protective.

Unique Insight finished fourth followed by a disappointing Deterministic and Native Land. Tuscan Gold scratched to run in the Preakness, while Lonesome Boy scratched to run in Saturday’s Long Branch Stakes at Monmouth where he finished fourth.

Antiquarian, a son of Preservationist owned by Centennial Farms and trained by Todd Pletcher, covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.99 and returned $13.80 as the third in the six-horse field.

“Nothing went right in Louisiana last time,” Pletcher said. “For some reason, he got anxious in the gate, broke through the gate beforehand. Sometimes, it’s hard to overcome that. He came back and trained really well like he always has, we’ve always had confidence the further he went the better he would get. Felt like he had this type of performance in him and he seemed to produce it today.”

Velazquez noted how much better-behaved Antiquarian was at Aqueduct than he was at Fair Grounds for the Louisiana Derby.

“He didn’t misbehave, he was calm in there, got a nice position and from then on it was pretty easy,” Velazquez said.

The Peter Pan is the traditional local prep for the Belmont Stakes. Even though the Belmont will be held in Saratoga and the prep was run at Aqueduct, Antiquarian will point to the Belmont Stakes on June 8, Pletcher said.

“Certainly earned his way in today if everything goes smoothly,” Pletcher said.

Antiquarian will soon likely head to Saratoga to join his stablemates Fierceness, who finished 15th as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby, and Mindframe, who is unbeaten and untested in two starts. Both of those horses could start in the Belmont, though Mindframe could also go to the Pegasus at Monmouth Park on June 15 as a steppingstone to the Grade 1 Haskell on July 21.

The Wine Steward was sent off the 6-5 Peter Pan favorite based on his runner-up finish to Encino in the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland on April 13. Jockey Luis Saez seemed to be just one-paced after getting go the lead.

“He came to the top of the stretch like was going to win easy but he kind of got a little tired,” Saez said. “I know he’s better than that.”

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