Florida shippers sweep Mountaineer stakes

Horses shipping north from Florida scored upsets in the co-featured $75,000 turf stakes at Mountaineer Race Track on Monday.

Bold Passage ($25.20), claimed for $50,000 in late March at Gulfstream Park, ran down pacesetter Afleet Angel under urging from jockiey Huber Villa-Gomez to score a one-length victory in the Decoration Day Handicap for fillies and mares.

It was the fifth win in 11 starts first off the claim for trainer Wayne McDonnell since January 2006, but the first win since September 2005 for the 5-year-old Bold Passage, who had lost 12 straight races.

Bold Passage covered a mile on firm turf in 1:24.29.

Maggie Slew, the 2-1 favorite, finished last of 11 making her turf debut.

* Puppeteer ($26.20), claimed out of a $5,000 dirt sprint at Mountaineer last September, returned from Tampa Bay Downs to capture the Memorial Day Handicap by 1 1/2 lengths.

Ridden by Jason Lumpkins for trainer Duane Knipe, the 7-year-old Puppeteer made a four-wide move to challenge pacesetter Cherokee Prince and Muqbil in upper stretch, then edged clear late, finishing a mile in 1:34.11.

It was the second win in the last three starts for Puppeteer and his sixth in 25 career races.

Muqbil, a Grade 2 stakes-placed runner in 2005 who had not raced since April 2006, finished second.

Cherokee Prince, the 2-1 favorite, faded to fifth, 1 3/4 lengths in front of Solo Cat, who won this race last year.

Deputy Glitters, winner of last year's Ohio Derby and the morning-line favorite, finished ninth of 10 at 4-1.