Bold and Bossy, the filly whose career debut last summer at Ellis Park was stalled for nearly a year after a headline-making escape escapade and capture followed by her subsequent rescue from a barn fire at the Henderson, Ky., track the next day, made her first trip to the winner's circle in her second career start on Monday at Thistledown Racino in North Randall, Ohio.
The 3-year-old daughter of Strong Mandate won the six-furlong maiden special weight race by a length for trainer Michael Ann Ewing.
Bold and Bossy first drew headlines for her botched career debut at Ellis Park on Aug. 21, 2021, when the then-2-year-old filly got loose during the post parade, dumped jockey Miguel Mena, jumped the rail in the barn area, and eluded pursuers for miles as she ran in traffic down a state highway then Interstate 69 before crossing into Indiana. She was eventually caught and returned to the track in a horse ambulance, only to need to be rescued from a fire in the receiving barn the next morning.
Suffering a few burns on her withers and back, Bold and Bossy was relegated to hand-walking in the barn at The Thoroughbred Center because she was recovering from some residual hoof bruising and other damage from her highway run, and also couldn't risk her healing burns being exposed to heat or flies.
Bold and Bossy finally made it back to the races at Belterra Park on July 5, 2022, finishing third.
Ewing told the Thoroughbred Daily News that that first race felt like an enormous success.
“It's sort of like being a parent and you have a child that has a great difficulty or a sickness or injury,” Ewing told Thoroughbred Daily News. “You nurse them and you don't know what the outcome is going to be and then when it's really positive, there's a very big sense of, I guess, pride. There was a lot of commitment there, a lot of time and a lot of energy. I'm just happy to see her healthy and happy.”
Now, the 3-year-old is officially a winner after Monday's maiden special weight race at Thistledown.
“Life throws you curves, as does this business,” Ewing told the Paulick Report in 2021. “You have to be optimistic and deal with setbacks and disappointments, because you have a lot of those in racing. I think it's a great game of hope. You deal with what you have and you move forward.”
The post ‘Great Game Of Hope’: Runaway Filly, Fire Survivor Bold And Bossy Makes It To The Winner’s Circle appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
