Afleet Again Upsets Withers
Afleet Again charged down the middle of the stretch past Ibboyee and favored D Funnybone and onto a 24-1 upset in the 131st running of the Grade 3, $150,000 Withers for 3-year-olds Saturday afternoon at Aqueduct Racetrack.
The gray son of Afleet Alex, who in his most recent appearance at Aqueduct finished last in the Grade 3 Gotham, broke sharply under jockey Abel Mariano and sat in fourth as Castaneda, under pressure from D Funnybone, rocketed through fractions of 21.60 and 43.82. Rounding the turn, Ibboyee began moving up on the outside past the pacesetters and into command at the top of the stretch, but Afleet Again closed fastest of all on the outside and went on to win by 1 ½ lengths.
His time for the mile was 1:34.05 over a fast track.
"My only instructions to the jockey were to take hold early on, and hopefully the speed might back up", said winning trainer Robert Reid. "He's a big, giant horse, and you don't want to get him checked. Abel took him to the outside and gave him a clear run, and that's what made the difference."
With the victory, his first in a stakes, Afleet Again earned $90,000 to more than double his bankroll to $177,950 and extend his record to 3-1-2 from 10 starts. His backers in the crowd of 3,965 were rewarded with a $51 payoff for a $2 win bet.
"We really hadn't considered this race before Wednesday," said Reid, who trains Afleet Alex for Cash is King Stable, which campaigned his sire, 2005 Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner Afleet Alex. "[But] it was a small field, and I love the one-turn mile for him and the big sweeping turns here."
"We were concerned the race was a little too short for him; I believe he's a legitimate mile and an eighth, mile and a quarter horse, but that said, he's not eligible for the Triple Crown races," added Reid.
Ibboyee was 4 ¼ lengths ahead of Spangled Star, with prohibitive favorite D Funnybone beating only Castaneda as he finished fourth in his first loss of the year after a pair of Grade 2 victories in the Swale and Hutcheson at Gulfstream Park, both at seven furlongs.
"He just didn't have the finish", said Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado, aboard the beaten favorite. "The mile got him."