NY-breds to run in Graded Stakes at Gulfstream, in Open and Restricted Stakes at Aqueduct

by Sarah Mace

Ibboyee and City Trooper to Test Waters of Grade 2 Hutcheson Stakes

Triple Crown-nominated colts IBBOYEE (6: 4-0-0) and CITY TROOPER (8: 2-4-1) both kicked off their three-year-old campaigns by trying open stakes company for the first time, but with limited success. City Trooper finished fifth in the Dania Beach Stakes on January 16th, his first try on turf for trainer George Weaver, but only three lengths behind the winner; Todd Pletcher trainee Ibboyee disappointed with a fourth place finish when heavily favored for the Count Fleet on January 2nd. Still, both trainers have spotted the colts confidently in Saturday’s Grade 2 seven-furlong Hutcheson at Gulfstream Park. They are drawn side-by-side in post positions two and three.

Anstu Stable’s IBBOYEE (Medallist/Expect Excellence [(Pentelicus], bred by Dr. Patricia S. Purdy) was last year’s standout New York-bred two-year-old, trouncing the competition in his second and third starts while sprinting to victory in the $314,000 New York Breeders’ Futurity Stakes and $150,000 Aspirant Stakes at the Finger Lakes. His fourth win for the year came in the Damon Runyon at one mile and seventy yards over Aqueduct’s inner track. Ibboyee has had a slight freshening since the Count Fleet Stakes and has turned in three works at Palm Meadows: a five-furlong bullet (1:012) flanked by two moderate works at four furlongs. John Velazquez (City Trooper’s regular rider) will ride Ibboyee for the first time; the morning line odds for the pair are 10-1.

CITY TROOPER (City Zip/Such Grace [Polish Numbers], bred by Mrs. Gerald A. Nielsen) did not have quite as flashy a juvenile campaign for owners Susan and Jim Hill as his New York-bred rival in the Hutcheson, and has yet to capture a stakes win, but was in the thick of best state-bred two-year-old stakes competition last year, running second in the Damon Runyon (behind Ibboyee) and Sleepy Hollow (behind Fenway Faithful), and third in the Bertram F. Bongard. He has worked twice since his last start, going five furlongs at Palm Beach Downs. City Trooper will be ridden for the first time by Garret Gomez and is 12-1 on the morning line.

The presumptive favorites for the Hutcheson are D’ Funnybone (2-1), winner of the Grade 2 six and one half furlong Saratoga Special by ten lengths and Belmont’s seven furlong Grade 2 Futurity (starting for the first time since a last-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile), and A Little Warm, who won the six furlong Spectacular Bid over a sloppy track in his last start with a three-figure Beyer Speed Figure. Post time for the race is 4:37 ET.

Akilina (ML Favorite) and Meriwether Jessica Part of Full Field for the Grade 3 Honey Fox

Two New York-breds will be part of a full field of fourteen signed on for the Grade 3 Honey Fox Stakes to be run Saturday at one mile over the Gulfstream Park turf course. Four-year-old AKILINA (Langfuhr/Fahamore [Gulch], bred and owned by Oak Bluff Stables) is slated as the morning line favorite at 7-2. Two of her four victories in 2009 came in stakes going a mile over turf labeled as “good,” including her last start, a determined win in the Pago Hop Stakes for three-year-old fillies at the Fair Grounds on December 5th (also her first start outside New York). Her other stakes win last year was a three-length victory in Belmont’s October 2nd Shopping For Love. She now has a record of 6-3-1 in 13 starts. Trainer Christophe Clement has given her a freshening since her last start and, in advance of the Honey Fox, Akilina has logged three published works at Payson Park including bullets at three and five furlongs. Her jockey Rajiv Maragh knows Akilina well, having ridden her ten times before, one of which was for the Shopping for Love. They will be breaking from the gate from post six.

MERIWETHER JESSICA (Freud/Chunter’s Joy [Northern Jove], bred by Cheryl A. Prudhomme), who has been tabbed at 20-1 on the morning line for the Honey Fox, will break from the very inside of her thirteen rivals under jockey Alan Garcia. The five-year-old mare, who has a record of 4-8-1 for trainer Linda Rice, will be making her 21st lifetime start. Though she suffered from a drought in the win column in 2009, she ran second three times, twice in stakes races defeating all but one male sprinting on turf in a lightning-fast rendition of Belmont’s six-furlong Dedicated Rullah Stakes (1:074), and finishing only a neck shy of Canadian Ballet in the $67,000 Lottsa Talc Stakes at seven furlongs. The post time for the race is 6:09 ET.

$65,000 Rare Treat for Borrowing Base and Yet Again

Of the seven fillies and mares who will compete in the mile-and-one-eighth $65,000 Rare Treat Stakes at Aqueduct on Saturday, BORROWING BASE and YET AGAIN have been flagged as the relative outsiders (10-1 and 30-1 odds respectively on the morning line), but the likely favorites — Marty Wolfson trainee Miss Singhsix (Ire), and Life At Ten who issues from the Pletcher barn – have some questions about their form and the field seems a little more evenly matched than at first appears. Miss Singhsix (Singspiel, Ire.) has only started once before on a conventional dirt track (a fifth place finish in a Grade 3 at Calder); Life At Ten (Malibu Moon) has a two-race winning streak, but will be making only her second start in stakes company.

BORROWING BASE (Personal Flag/Bonita Chica [Turkoman], bred by Gallagher’s Stud) compiled a record of 1-1-1 in 14 starts last year, but the seven-year-old mare, trained by Patrick J. Quick for owner Daddies Girls Stable competes exclusively in stakes (often non-restricted) company, tends to be near the finishers, and often picks up a check. Her win last year came in the $67,000 Power Lunch Stakes at Aqueduct. She has two wins, a second- and a third-place finish at the Rare Treat distance and can boast two wins over the Aqueduct inner track. Borrowing Base attracts the services of Channing Hill and will break from post five of six for her fifty-ninth start.

YET AGAIN (Catienus/Folly go Rightly [Distinctive Pro], bred by Dr. Cary Shapoff) a five-year-old mare trained by Karl Grusmark, will be making her 35th career start. Her record for 2009 was 2-4-1 from 13 races, and she seems to have a tendency to rise up unexpectedly against the competition. She ran third in the Restored Hope last year (at 40.25-1 odds), won the Affectionately Stakes (at 8.70-1) – both over the Aqueduct inner – and came second in the Saratoga Dew (at 6.00-1). She has at total of two wins and a third from six tries over the surface. Orlando Bocachica will ride for Seahorse Stable and the post time for the race is 1:55 ET.

Veteran Field Entered for Restricted Tinchen Prince’s Stakes at Aqueduct

Seven New York-breds – including two eight-year-olds and two seven-year-olds, not to mention the venerable millionaire NAUGHTY NEW YORKER who will break from the outside as the second choice on the morning line – are entered in the restricted $60,000 Tinchen Prince’s Stakes to be run at a mile and a sixteenth at Aqueduct on Saturday. Good Law, one of the pair going from Thomas Bush’s barn, is slated as the favorite. Post time for the race is 4:18 ET.

1	Dr. D. F. C	7/H	F. Jara	120	R. A. Ubillo	10/1
2	Almighty Silver	5/G	J. L. Espinoza	120	P. O. Ortiz	7/2
3	Executive Search	7/H	C. C. Lopez	120	D. Jacobson	12/1
4	Summer Share	4/G	R. Migliore	118	T. M. Bush	5/1
5	Good Law	5/G	A. R. Napravnik	120	T. M. Bush	2/1
6	Freddy the Cap	8/H	J. A. Davis	118	O. S. Barrera, Jr.	20/1
7	Naughty New Yorker	8/H	J. Samyn	120	P. J. Kelly	5/2

Owners: 1 – T S P Enterprises, Joseph and Anne McMahon, Brownyard, Virginia, W.; 2 – Giorgi Stable, Stasi, Randy; 3 – Western Resources Racing (Douglas Jacobson); 4 – Standard Racing; 5 – Anania, Michael; 6 – Clery L. Sosa-Barrera; 7 – Fox Ridge Farm

Breeders: 1 – McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds, LLC; 2 – Kenneth L. Ramsey & Sarah K. Ramsey; 3 – Mr. & Mrs. Harry Stanyon; 4 – Rojan Farms; 5 – Past Due Farm; 6 – Sez Who Thoroughbreds, Inc.; 7 – Dr. William B. Wilmot &Dr. Joan M. Taylor

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2010/02/18/saturday-preview-ny-breds-to-run-in-graded-stakes-at-gulfstream-in-open-and-restricted-stakes-at-aqueduct/

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