Neither some extremely bad gate manners nor a slow start could prevent Bold Affair from winning the $75,000 Primonetta Stakes at Pimlico for the second straight year.
Bold Affair ($3), the best older female sprinter in Maryland, normally gives the assistant starters trouble loading into the gate. But she was more temperamental than usual Saturday. Jockey Abel Castellano had to dismount and it took five men to finally get the 5-year-old Bold Affair into the gate.
“She always has a hard time to get into the gate,” Castellano said. “I was just glad we finally got in.”