Although he has been successful in both open and restricted
company, Ibboyee seems to have found an ideal spot Wednesday at Saratoga Race
Course as he heads a field of six New York-breds in the $100,000 Albany.
Owned by Anstu Stables and
trained by Todd Pletcher, the son of Medallist comes into the 1 1/8th
mile Albany off a sharp half-length victory in the 1 1/16th mile New
York Derby at Finger Lakes. The New York Derby, for state-breds, was his second
win of the year and boosted his record as a 3-year-old to 2-2-2 from seven
starts, including a second to the King’s Bishop-bound D’ Funnybone in the Grade
2 Swale and a third to D’ Funnybone and Travers hopeful A Little Warm in the
Grade 2 Hutcheson.
“He’s a horse that has run well in open company, but you know,
we’re also wanting to take advantage of him being a New York-bred horse,” said
Pletcher of Ibboyee, whose lifetime earnings are $595,258 with a record of
5-2-2 from 12 starts. “The Albany
looks like the right spot.”
Ibboyee is returning to the site of his very first victory,
having come from off the pace to get up by a nose in his debut at the Spa last
August. From there, he went on to win a pair of stakes at Finger Lakes,
finished fourth in the Sleepy Hollow at Belmont Park
over a sloppy track, and then closed out his juvenile campaign with a victory
in the Damon Runyon at Aqueduct. This year, he scored his first win in the
Spend a Buck at Monmouth against open company in May and then was upset by
Friend Or Foe – also Travers-bound – in the restricted Mike Lee at Belmont Park.
John Velazquez is aboard Ibboyee, the even-money
morning-line favorite who drew the rail as the 124-pound highweight in the
field.
Trainer Dominic Galluscio has entered a pair in the Albany: Johannesburg
Smile, third in the New York Derby behind Ibboyee, and Stormy’s Majesty, who
won his first three starts against New York-breds and then finished eighth in
the Grade 2 Jim Dandy behind A Little Warm.
With Javier Castellano up, Johannesburg Smile drew post
position 5 and was listed at 5-1 on the morning line, while Stormy’s Majesty
drew post position 2 under Hall of Famer Edgar Prado at 5-2 on the morning
line.
Hittin the Note, trained by Rick Schosberg, comes into the
Albany off a third-place finish in a state-bred allowance at the Spa on July 28
and a second-place finish against similar at Belmont. The son of Read the
Footnotes, unraced at age 2, previously was fourth to General Maximus in the
Times Square Division of the New York
and fifth behind Franny Freud in the NYSS on May 26.
Hittin the Note, 12-1, will be ridden by Ramon Dominguez
from post position 3.
Mineswept, who broke his maiden in his seventh start earlier
this year at Belmont and who followed that with
a victory in an off-the-turf allowance at Saratoga
on July 24, is 6-1 on the morning line under Alan Garcia, while the Finger
Lakes-based Small
Town, fourth in the New
York Derby, completes the field.
The field for the $100,000 Albany:
|
PP
|
Horse
|
Jockey
|
Wgt
|
Trainer
|
Odds
|
|
1
|
Ibboyee (NY)
|
J R Velazquez
|
124
|
T A Pletcher
|
Even
|
|
2
|
Stormy's Majesty (NY)
|
E S Prado
|
119
|
D G Galluscio
|
5-2
|
|
3
|
Hittin the Note (NY)
|
R A Dominguez
|
115
|
R E Schosberg
|
12-1
|
|
4
|
Mineswept (NY)
|
A Garcia
|
115
|
P M Serpe
|
6-1
|
|
5
|
Johannesburg Smile (NY)
|
J Castellano
|
119
|
D G Galluscio
|
5-1
|
|
6
|
Small Town (NY)
|
E Castillo
|
117
|
J Tebbutt
|
20-1
|