Charles
Reed & Mike Zanella’s Bold Affair made short work of her seven
filly and mare rivals when she galloped to victory in today’s feature at
Laurel Park, the $105,000 What A Summer Stakes.
Before
the start of the race, Bold Affair was reluctant to load and needed the
help of several members of the gate crew. Out quickly at the start to
engage the pacesetters in the six-furlong test, Bold Affair sat outside
Dance to Bristol and Silver Heart before pushing to the front around the
turn and pulling away through the stretch to win by 4-1/2 lengths in
1:10.61. Dance to Bristol finished a comfortable second, while Enchante
rallied to take the show spot away from Silver Heart.
“She
has a little attitude sometimes. It happened to me before at Pimlico
but as soon as we started rolling I knew we would be okay,” said Abel
Castellano, who rode the winner. “She was feeling comfortable and got to
the lead whenever she wanted. Once she switched leads, she took off.”
Howard
Wolfendale trains Bold Affair, who paid $3.40 as the overwhelming 3-5
favorite. The daughter of Two Punch won five stakes in Maryland last
year (Conniver, Primonetta, Skipat, Maryland Million Distaff and
Geisha).
Wolfendale
indicated his star, who has now earned $599,540, would run next in the
$250,000 Barbara Fritchie Handicap (G2) here next month. The
seven-furlong test is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 16.
Castellano,
Maryland’s leading rider a year ago, made national and local news
yesterday by helping capture Bullet Catcher, a horse which got loose
from the Laurel stable area and ended up more than a mile and a half
away on U.S. Route 1. During the chase, the 29-year-old shot video of
the adventure on his cell phone.
“Yesterday
was crazy,” Castellano said. “I think I got my 15 minutes of fame. I
got a lot of phone calls from the press and did a bunch of interviews.
My family enjoyed all the attention.”