Littlestitious surges past Fraudulent Charge in Beyond the Wire Stakes

Littlestitious ($10.20) flattered the form of leading Kentucky Oaks contenders Clairiere and Travel Column when she successfully shipped to Laurel Park and won Saturday's $100,000 Beyond the Wire Stakes.

Ridden by Sheldon Russell, Littlestitious broke sweetly from the outside post in the five-filly field and settled into a three-wide tracking spot as favored Street Lute and second-choice Fraudulent Charge sparred through tepid fractions of 24.71 and 47.71 seconds.

Street Lute packed it in turning into the long Laurel stretch and Fraudulent Charge assumed command with three-sixteenths of a mile remaining.

At this point, Russell had Littlestitious in full flight and they caught Fraudulent Charge to score by a half-length. Littlestitious completed the one-turn mile in 1:36.75. Street Lute held third. Journeytothemoon and Buckey's Charm completed the order of finish.

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"She's a fighter," winning owner Joel Politi remarked during a post-race interview broadcast by Laurel. "She's fought in all of her races. Sheldon rode her just unbelievably well."

Littlestitious won the $100,000 My Trusty Cat Stakes at Delta Downs in her final start as a 2-year-old before tackling stronger competition at Fair Grounds earlier this winter.

She finished fifth in the $150,000 Silverbulletday on Jan. 16 before placing fourth behind Clairiere and Travel Column in the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra last month.

Street Lute, the Maryland-bred champion juvenile filly of 2020, had a five-race winning streak snapped as she stretched out to a mile for the first time in her career.

Trainer John Robb mentioned earlier this week that he preferred for his filly to have a target to chase, but jockey Xavier Perez had no choice but to make the running with others reluctant to do so.

Trained by Tom Amoss, Littlestitious is a daughter of Ghostzapper out of a winning half-sister to multiple Grade 3 winner Broadway Empire.