Fil Dor tops Saratoga's new Leo O'Brien steeplechase

Fil Dor brought the right kind of résumé to Saratoga’s newest jump feature, and the race’s unusual shape made him the horse to beat. Del Rio Racing’s eight-year-old son of Doctor Dino was the 158-pound high weight in the Grade 1, $150,000 Leo O’Brien, a 2 3/8-mile steeplechase handicap for older horses that had only two entrants. In a race that asked for endurance, clean jumping and a smart ride more than raw speed, that combination of class and weight put Fil Dor at the center of the story.

The new race carried extra meaning at Saratoga because it honored Leo O’Brien, the steeplechase jockey turned trainer who died at 85 after a lengthy battle with Lewy Body Dementia. NYRA remembered him as the trainer of New York-bred millionaires Fourstardave, Fourstars Allstar and Irish Linnet, a reminder that his name had long been linked to some of the state-bred game’s biggest stars. The Leo O’Brien was one of the early features of the July 4th Racing Festival, which ran July 3-5 at Saratoga Race Course, and it arrived as part of a 2026 Saratoga summer meet scheduled from July 3 through Sept. 7.

Fil Dor’s recent form suggested he was coming in ready. In the Grade 1 Iroquois at Percy Warner on May 9, he tracked close to the pace before losing position at the 14th fence and rallying late to finish fourth, 2 1/4 lengths behind Zabeel Champion. Ricky Hendriks said the horse had gone into that race without a prep, and the Iroquois served as the necessary tuneup for this target. Hendriks also pointed to the cutback from the longer effort as a possible help, and he expected Fil Dor to show speed again.

That profile fit the way the race could be won. In steeplechasing, especially over 2 3/8 miles, the question is not just who can go fastest early, but who can settle, conserve energy and keep jumping when the last fences start to matter. Fil Dor had already shown he could carry his form across borders, with a fifth in the American Grand National at Far Hills in 2025 and a decisive victory in the Colonial Cup at Camden later that year, when he went to the front and stayed there. Saratoga’s jump program has recently featured top-level races at the same distance, including the Jonathan Sheppard Handicap and the Beverly R. Steinman, and the new Leo O’Brien fit neatly into that same summer stage.