Crimson Comic cruises in Slipton Fell

A road trip to West Virginia helped Crimson Comic regain his best form.

No better than fourth in each of his last three starts against stakes company in his home state of Maryland, the 4-year-old Crimson Comic ($3.80) responded to a change of scenery by drawing off to a 3 1/2-length victory in Saturday night's Slipton Fell Handicap at Mountaineer Racetrack.

Ridden by Ricardo Feliciano for trainer Mark Shuman, Crimson Comic dueled with Unbridled Widsom through a half-mile in 46.87 seconds, then shook clear coming into the far turn, and easily pulled away from runner-up Cryptolight. It was another 5 1/2 lengths back to Targe in third.

In winning for the sixth time in 17 lifetime starts, Crimson Comic covered the mile and 70 yards in 1:42.43. In his previous stakes appearances, Crimson Comic had been no better than fourth, including a pair of sixth-place finishes in the Grade 3 William Donald Schaefer at Pimlico three weeks ago and last fall's Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park.