SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher had just won Sunday’s Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga and didn’t know how to feel. That’s because while Antiquarian rallied to win the $1 million race by 1 1/2 lengths, Pletcher’s other starter, Mindframe - the 9-5 second choice - was eliminated soon after the start when a crowding incident resulted in jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. being unseated from that horse.
“I don’t know what to say,” Pletcher said. “I want Antiquarian to get his due, he deserves it, [owner Centennial Farms] deserves it. At the same time, you just feel horrible, you know.”
Mindframe, who ran loose around the track before caught by an outrider in upper stretch, appeared to have come out of the incident unscathed, Pletcher said later Sunday afternoon. Ortiz, who was helped off the track by five on-site personnel so the race could be completed, was taken to Albany Medical Hospital complaining of pain in his left wrist and right ribs.
The incident that marred the race occurred soon after the start. Phileas Fogg, ridden by Kendrick Carmouche, broke outward, but then was directed inside, where Contrary Thinking was under Dylan Davis. Contrary Thinking came over and made contact with White Abarrio who, under Edgard Zayas, made contact with Mindframe, turning him sideways. Ortiz lost his seat on Mindframe, and was trying to use Zayas and the side of White Abarrio to prop himself back on Mindframe, but that didn’t work and he fell to the ground.
Soon after he fell, Ortiz got kicked by Sierra Leone, who was trying to avoid the incident under Flavien Prat.
Sierra Leone rallied to get second by 1 1/4 lengths over Phileas Fogg. Following the race, the stewards lit the inquiry sign and ultimately disqualified Phileas Fogg from third and ordered him unplaced, though he was still a betting interest. Highland Falls, who finished fourth, was elevated to third. White Abarrio, Disarm and Contrary Thinking, who finished fifth through seventh, were also elevated one position in the order of finish.
Carmouche said his horse broke outward and he tried to move him in. When the horse came in, Carmouche then immediately try to correct him and, though he never made contact with Contrary Thinking, it started a chain reaction.
“I was just making my horse switch leads, he broke out a little bit, I made him switch leads, come over, then I straightened back up,” Carmouche said. “But, man, I never touched the other horse. I think [Davis] just over-anticipated me coming over and he went over with me.”
Pletcher believes the presence of Contrary Thinking, who was in the race to act as a pacemaker for his stablemate Sierra Leone, made Carmouche ride Phileas Fogg a little differently. Phileas Fogg won the Grade 2 Suburban in gate-to-wire fashion and Sunday the plan was to sit second - off Contrary Thinking - a style he employed in winning the Excelsior in April and when he ran second in the Pimlico Special.
“When you have a pacesetter in there I think it changes the tactics for some riders and it got a little messy, and unfortunately Mindframe took the worst of it,” Pletcher said.
The incident overshadowed what was a breakthrough performance for Antiquarian, a son of Preservationist who was coming off runner-up finishes in the Grade 3 Blame at Churchill in May and the Grade 2 Suburban in July.
He raced close to the pace in those races. On Sunday, jockey John Velazquez said he made the decision to take the horse farther back. After the opening half-mile, Antiquarian was fourth, 10 lengths behind Contrary Thinking, who had sped off to a seven-length lead. Phileas Fogg, kept wide by Carmouche, with White Abarrio, under Zayas, even farther out. Velazquez, meanwhile, had Antiquarian in fourth and saving ground.
Velazquez moved Antiquarian into third and to the outside before the quarter pole. Phileas Fogg, meanwhile, had taken the lead from Contrary Thinking at that point and was two lengths clear at the eighth pole.
Antiquarian chased and eventually caught Phileas Fogg to get the victory. Sierra Leone, coming off a victory in the Grade 1 Whitney, came with his wide rally to get second.
“I had my mind made up, I was taking my horse back and try to save some ground and give him a chance and come running,” Velazquez said. “I wasn’t sure if it was Irad or Flavien [who fell]. I had three horses in front of me, I have to worry about that.”
Velazquez said he was going to wait until somebody came to him to ask Antiquarian to run.
“By the three-eighths pole nobody came,” Velazquez said. “Kendrick was nudging his horse. I said I better get a little closer to him before he gets away from me. I got close to him and he responded really well.”
Antiquarian covered the 1 1/4 miles in 2:02.16, returned $28 to win, and earned a career-high 108 Beyer Speed Figure. He earned a fees-paid berth into the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 1.
Velazquez rode Antiquarian to victory about 16 1/2 hours after he guided Fierceness to victory in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Saturday night. Velazquez took a red-eye flight from San Diego that landed at John F. Kennedy Airport in downstate N.Y. at 5 a.m. He took a flight to Saratoga and got to his home at 7:45 a.m. After a nap, Velazquez won with three of his first four mounts on Saratoga’s Sunday card.
Pletcher also trains Fierceness, so his rollercoaster 15 hours included that performance, which began with Fierceness ducking in and nearly unseating Velazquez before he won by 3 1/4 lengths over Journalism.
“From the start of the Pacific Classic to this,” Pletcher said. “Welcome to the world of a horse trainer, right?”
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