Pimlico: Former claimer Miss Fleetfoot relishes slop in Primonetta

Miss Fleetfoot, claimed for $7,500 in February, delivered the biggest performance of her 26-race career when she turned back a bid from 3-5 favorite Wind Caper to win Saturday’s $53,500 Primonetta Stakes at Pimlico.

Ridden for the first time by Abel Castellano Jr., the 6-year-old Miss Fleetfoot ($11.20) stalked in second as Five Diamonds set fractions of23.69 and 46.49 seconds over a sloppy, sealed track. Miss Fleetfoot opened up by 1 1/2 lengths with a furlong remaining, but Wind Caper whittled down that advantage and was threatening to go past until Miss Fleetfoot surged again in deep stretch to draw clear by 2 1/4 lengths.

“When we came out of the gate, she was running very hard in the slop and I felt like I had a lot of horse from the backside all the way home,” Castellano said. “Turning for home I asked her to go and she never stopped. She was so happy running in the slop.”

Trained by Phil Schoenthal, who also owns the mare in partnership with Ghost Ridge Farms, Miss Fleetfoot completed the six furlongs in 1:12.02. She has now won 13 of 26 starts lifetime, including 4 of 7 on wet tracks, and is 3 for 4 since coming to Schoenthal’s barn..

New York shipper Wind Caper was 5 1/2 lengths clear of the third-place finisher, Tough Talkin Lady.