OZONE PARK, N.Y. - On Saturday, Antiquarian gave trainer Todd Pletcher his fifth victory in the Peter Pan Stakes. In four weeks, Antiquarian will try to give Pletcher his fifth victory in the Belmont Stakes. None of Pletcher’s four previous Peter Pan winners was successful in the Belmont. Of the three who ran back in the Belmont, Sunriver in 2004 managed to finish third. In 2014, the Pletcher-trained Commissioner, who finished second in the Peter Pan to Tonalist, came back to run second, beaten a nose, by Tonalist in the Belmont. Typically, the Peter Pan winner is trying to come out of a one-turn, 1 1/8-mile race and navigate two turns and 1 1/2 miles in the Belmont. Arcangelo did the Peter Pan-Belmont double last year. This year, due to the renovations at Belmont Park, the Peter Pan was run at 1 1/8 miles at Aqueduct. The Belmont Stakes will be run at 1 1/4 miles at Saratoga on June 8. :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. Listening to Pletcher, when it comes to Antiquarian, this might have been a good year for the Belmont to be run at 1 1/2 miles. “He’s always given us the impression that the farther he goes the better he’s going to get,” Pletcher said. Antiquarian earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure for his Peter Pan victory, which was achieved by three-quarters of a length over The Wine Steward. The good news is Antiquarian rebounded from a disappointing sixth-place finish in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby, in which he broke through the starting gate prior to the official start of the race. “That caught me totally off guard,” Pletcher said. “I don’t know what caused him to do that that day. There was some activity in the gate and he thought it was time to go. He’s not been a problem ever.” Antiquarian has run only four times and Pletcher believes there is room for improvement. “I think he’s still learning,” he said. “Watching the replay of the race yesterday, he kind of passed the wire and pricked his ears. It kind of gives you confidence that maybe there’s a little more there.” Antiquarian, a son of Preservationist owned by Centennial Farms, will soon ship to Saratoga to join many of his stablemates including Fierceness, the champion 2-year-old of 2023 who finished 15th as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby but who will be trained toward a potential start in the Belmont. Also in Saratoga is Mindframe, who is 2 for 2 following a dominant first-level allowance win at Churchill Downs on Derby Day. Pletcher did not rule out the Belmont for Mindframe, but suggested Sunday that a race like the Pegasus at Monmouth on June 15 might be better for the colt’s development. The Pegasus is a prep for the Grade1 Haskell at Monmouth on July 20. Break did Joey Freshwater some good After he won the Grade 3 Bay Shore Stakes early in his 3-year-old season, Joey Freshwater went off form, losing his last six starts of 2023. After a well-deserved break, Joey Freshwater has come back a better - and faster - horse, winning three of four starts including Saturday’s Grade 3 Runhappy Stakes. His lone loss this year came in a February allowance, in which he lost a shoe and came out of the race lame behind, trainer Linda Rice said. He rebounded with a dominant allowance win on April 4 for which he earned a 105 Beyer Speed Figure before his Runhappy victory, where he benefitted from the favorite Straight No Chaser stumbling at the start. “We took every opportunity that we had as a 3-year-old and maybe pushed him a little further than we should have,” Rice said. “So, we pulled the plug on him at Saratoga, turned him out for three or four months and fortunately he came back as a new horse.” Joey Freshwater, who earned a 91 Beyer for his Runhappy victory, will now point to the Grade 2, $350,000 True North at Saratoga on June 8. In the Runhappy, Joey Freshwater beat Ninetyprcentmaddie by a neck. Ninetyprcentmaddie could also run back in the True North, trainer Butch Reid said. Neecie Marie targets New York Reid plans to have several runners during the Belmont at Saratoga meet including Neecie Marie, who came with a furious late run in the stretch to win Saturday’s Grade 3 Beaugay Stakes by a neck over odds-on favorite Whitebeam. Reid is hoping to run Neecie Marie in the Grade 1, $750,000 New York at 1 3/16 miles on June 7. “I don’t think there’s any distance that’s a problem for this filly,” Reid said. Neecie Marie was beaten just a head in the Jockey Club Oaks at 1 3/8 miles last year. The Beaugay was Neecie Marie’s first start since she ran fifth in the off-the-turf Mrs. Revere Stakes last Nov. 24. “We came back in this race just to get one under her belt,” Reid said. “To get the money was an added bonus.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.