Frost Giant, dismissed at odds of 40-1, came back in the lane Saturday afternoon to win the 122nd running of the $400,000 Suburban Handicap, giving jockey Rudy Rodriguez his first Grade 1 victory.

Owned by IEAH Stable, Andrew Cohen and Pegasus Holding Company, the 5-year-old Giant’s Causeway horse capped an eventful week for Dutrow, who earlier in the day, saw Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown return to regular galloping at Aqueduct. It was his first strong gallop since he was pulled up in the Belmont Stakes on June 7, costing him his chance to be racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner.

“I’ll be all right now,” Dutrow said of the Suburban win. “This gets me back in the game.”

It worked well on all counts for Dutrow, who scratched Frost Giant on Wednesday to run in the 1 ¼-mile Suburban.

“I just figured, what’s a mile going to do?” Dutrow said of his decision. “I could have just screwed him up if I tried it.”

It was also Dutrow’s decision to keep Rodriguez on the horse for this prestigious race, that was traditionally the Fourth of July feature in New York.

Rodriguez, breaking from post 2, got unexpected company on the lead from an extremely keen Naughty New Yorker, who set the early pace of 24.30, 48.55 and 1:12.03.

Frost Giant stayed no farther back than a length and a half and moved up to collar the leader after six furlongs. Solar Flare, an Argentina-bred trained by Larry Jones, also moved up and those two hooked up for the stretch drive before a crowd of 6,184.

Solar Flare, under Gabriel Saez, actually took the lead, but appeared to drift out late as Frost Giant kept going. He came up a half-length to the good in 2:01.58. Another Dutrow trainee, Rising Moon, necked Harlington for the show.

“Rudy (Rodriguez, jockey) I’ve got to tell you, gave this horse a very good ride,” Dutrow said. “He rode him great, man. Usually, he’s go, go, go. But I am so happy for him.

“For the last two or three weeks, this horse settled down in the mornings. This was mostly Rudy, not just today, but in the mornings. You could see it happening. The owners paid a lot of money for this horse, and it worked out great. I bet on the other horse (Rising Moon). Cornelio (Velasquez, jockey of Rising Moon) said he had nothing to offer, so I am going to scope him.”

Rodriguez took great delight in the victory that returned $82 to the $2 win players that bet on Frost Giant.

“I get on him in the morning, and he has really been different lately,” Rodriguez said. “We’ve had him a few years, but he seems to have a new attitude. He was scratched on Wednesday, and that looks like it turned out to be a good thing. I was able to learn a lot about him. I was very happy Mr. Dutrow kept me on this horse. It was not an easy race, but he ran great.”

For Jones, who one race earlier saw favored Proud Spell run a troubled second only to be disqualified to third in the Grade 1 Mother Goose, Solar Flare made the day a bit easier to take.

“We can live with this one,” Jones said. “It was his first time in Grade 1 company. It looks like he just got a little tired at the end.”

Merchant Marine was fifth, followed by favored A.P. Arrow, Naughty New Yorker and Hunting.

“He didn’t behave well in the gate,” trainer Todd Pletcher said of A.P. Arrow. “He didn’t get away we’ll and he never recovered from that.”