Tiznow’s newly-turned 3-year-old filly Fierce Boots rolled to a two-length victory in Saturday’s $100,000 Busanda S.at Aqueduct Racetrack. With the victory, she received 10 points towards a possible berth in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on May 3 at Churchill Downs.
A sharp start put Fierce Boots and jockey Jose Ortiz on the lead immediately, and after rather easy fractions of 24.44 seconds for the quarter-mile, 48.93 for the half and 1:14.87 for three-quarters, Fierce Boots had plenty left to hold her seven foes at bay through the stretch. She completed the one mile and 70 yards in 1:46.62.
“She broke well, so I put her on the lead,” said Ortiz. “She went very relaxed and just kept trying.”
It was the first stakes victory for Fierce Boots, who is owned by Bobby Flay and trained by Todd Pletcher.
“She hadn’t gone to the front in the past, but we thought it would be a good idea to let her settle in where she wants to be,” said Pletcher’s assistant Byron Hughes. “Todd thought two turns would suit her.”
With the victory, Fierce Boots earned $60,000 to nearly triple her bankroll to $94,036. Overall, she is 2-0-0 from five starts.
The bay filly, bred in Kentucky by Jamm Ltd., brought a winning bid of $200,000 at the 2012 Keeneland September Yearling sale. Out of the stakes-winning mare Shop Again, Fierce Boots is a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Power Broker.
