Aqueduct: Fierce Boots a bright spot on tough day for Pletcher barn

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - A day that started out with tragedy ended in triumph for trainer Todd Pletcher’s New York stable when Fierce Boots went gate to wire to win Saturday’s $100,000 Busanda Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Aqueduct.

Under Jose Ortiz, Fierce Boots assumed the lead shortly after the break, maintained a clear advantage despite moving less than fluidly, according to Ortiz, and held off a mild late bid by Flipcup to win the Busanda by two lengths. Flipcup, who was wheeling back 13 days after winning the East View for New York-breds, finished second by two lengths over Fleet of Gold. Ketel Twist finished fourth.

The win came several hours after the Pletcher barn lost one of its stable stars when Caixa Eletronica, a multiple graded stakes winner, died of a fractured skull neck suffered in a training accident with another horse at Belmont Park.

Byron Hughes, the New York-based assistant to Pletcher said the Busanda win helped raise spirits “a little bit, but still heartbroken, you know.”

Pletcher won the Busanda for the third time in the last four years. Last year, he won it with Princess of Sylmar, who went on to win the Kentucky Oaks, Coaching Club American Oaks, Alabama, and Beldame.

Fierce Boots, owned by celebrity chef Bobby Flay, earned 10 qualifying points toward this year’s Kentucky Oaks to be run at Churchill Downs on May 2.

Fierce Boots, a well-bred daughter of Tiznow out of the Grade 1 winning mare Shop Again, has more to prove to elevate to Princess of Sylmar status, but Saturday was certainly a big step forward.

Hughes said that Fierce Boots had acted a little bit rank in her training so he and Pletcher decided to have the filly more forwardly placed than she had been in her previous four starts.

With nobody else wanting the lead, Fierce Boots got clear and set fractions of 24.57 seconds for the quarter, 48.81 for the half-mile and 1:14.21 for six furlongs. Fierce Boots, a half-sister to the Grade 1 winner Power Broker, covered the mile and 70 yards in 1:46.62 and returned $19.

“She’s been more rank lately, we decided it might be a good idea to be up there and let her settle in where she wants to be,” Hughes said.

Fierce Boots came back with a cut on her left hind leg. Ortiz deduced Fierce Boots may have been clipped by a trailing horse early in the race because he felt she wasn’t moving comfortably early on.

“I give her credit because she got a big cut on one leg in behind,” Ortiz said. “She kept the same pace all the way.”