Miss Leslie came from last to first in the stretch of Saturday’s $125,000 Weber City Miss S. to give the 3-year-old Paynter filly her second stakes victory.
After getting pinched back at the start, Miss Leslie and jockey J. D. Acosta found themselves trailing the field going into the first turn. She was a bit headstrong around the bend, but settled nicely for the backstretch run as the field went through the first half-mile in :48.59.
Still well off the pace after six furlongs, Miss Leslie came four-wide into the stretch and began her march to the front. She took command in the final furlong to beat Kentucky Oaks (G1) nominee Oliviaofthedesert by 1 1/2-lengths.
The winning time was 1:44.28 over a fast main track.
“Everybody knows speed is good, and a lot of horses had speed (in this race). I told J.D., stay behind the speed and then do one move,” winning trainer Claudio Gonzalez said. “He did it perfect. He rode just like we planned.”
As far as the Black-Eyed Susan on May 14, Gonzalez said that is the next stop.
“Everybody wants to run in that race, and if this filly is doing good we’re going to run,” Gonzalez said. “Definitely.”
Miss Leslie has now won both of her starts around two turns, including the Anne Arundel County S. in December, and is 4-2-1 in eight outings, with earnings of $204,630. She is owned by BB Horses and was bred by Maxis Stable.
Paynter, who was last year’s leading Fourth-Crop sire, is currently first on the 2021 Fifth-Crop list in several categories, including progeny earnings of over $5 million, and by winners, wins and Grade 1 horses.
