BB Horses' Miss Leslie returned to her multiple stakes-winning form after five straight off-the-board finishes, outrunning long shots Lookin Dynamic and Villanelle to win Saturday's $100,000 Thirty Eight Go Go at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md.
The 1 1/16-mile Thirty Eight Go Go for fillies and mares 3 and up, part of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) Series, was the last of three $100,000 stakes on the card, preceded by the James F. Lewis III for 2-year-olds and Smart Halo for 2-year-old fillies.
Miss Leslie ($4) was ridden by jockey Angel Cruz, who escaped injury after being unseated during Saturday's third race. Together they settled near the back of the pack in the early going, trailing all but one horse as Sosua and Grade 1-placed Off Topic raced together through splits of :23.94 and :47.29.
Cruz tipped Miss Leslie off the rail leaving the backstretch and began to roll on the turn, getting into contention after six furlongs went in 1:12.02. They continued on once straightened for home and hit the wire in 1:43.63 over a main track rated good, turning back Lookin Dynamic by a half-length. It was just a head back to Villanelle in third.
Miss Leslie entered the Thirty Eight Go Go off a 5 ¼-length optional claiming allowance win going one mile, 70 yards Oct. 21 at Delaware Park in Wilmington, Del., with Cruz up. Her previous stakes wins came in the April 23 Weber City Miss April 23 and last December's Anne Arundel County, both going 1 1/16 miles at Laurel.
“I rode her one time so I knew how she does. She breaks a little slow,” Cruz said. “Claudio just told me to wait for a moment to move and that's what I did. I waited, I moved on the outside and she kicked on.”
The Thirty Eight Go Go honors the two-time Maryland-bred champion bred and trained by Hall of Famer King Leatherbury. Eight of her 10 career wins came in stakes including the Grade 2 Gardenia, Grade 3 Tempted, and Maryland Million Lassie in 1987 and three consecutive runnings of the Geisha (1988-90).
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