Albany, Calif. (June 10, 2017)–At 62-1, the longest shot in the field, Krsto Skye, won the $50,000 Albany Stakes. Ridden by Billy Antongeorgi and trained by Ari Herbertson, Krsto Skye was unhurried to the turn then moved outside to win handily. Horse Laugh, ridden by Ricky Gonzalez, raced off the rail to close with Krsto Skye, but didn’t have enough in the tank even though he finished willingly. Rocket Heat, ridden by Aaron Gryder, set the pace, but faded in the stretch. The $50,000 Albany Stake is for three year olds and upwards, on the turf, and is run at a distance of 5 furlongs. Today’s victory was completed in a time of 56.70 seconds with the winner paying out $126.40 for a $2 win bet. This was trainer Ari Herbertson’s first stakes win of his young career, which began less than year ago.
“We were a big longshot in there. I just kept my cool with him. I knew he had some gas, but there was a lot of other horses in there that out footed him early. I just let them go and let him get into stride himself and he just carved his way through there real nice. On the turn, I knew I had a lot of horse and then when he got outside, he ran like the even money favorite,” said jockey Billy Antongeorgi.
“You know Billy is a great rider and I just told him to break and play the break, just use your best judgement, he worked him last week and was completely confident in the horse and he also knew we were stepping way up in class. When I told him the horse would be running in the stake, he almost didn’t believe me. We knew there was a lot of speed in the race and just went out there and won the race for us. I am really proud of the horse, he has come a long way. He used to run with his head sort of cranked to the side, he finally learned to relax a little bit. And I think that has helped him the most,” said trainer Ari Herbertson.
Live music will run now through the end of the meet on June 18th. Horseplayers, be sure to take advantage of the mandatory payouts offered on Closing Day of the Winter/Spring Meet. Golden Gate Fields will offer mandatory payouts for the Pick 6, Pick 5, and the Super High 5. First post is at 1:15 p.m. PT. And the last Dollar Day of the season.