James F. Edward's Bo Bo's Vice finally seems to have gotten on track in his career, and it apparently doesn't matter what kind of track.The gelded son of Raffie's Majesty gobbled up the muddy going on Belmont Park's main track Sunday afternoon to win the inaugural running of the $250,000 Cab Calloway Division of the New York Stallion Stakes for restricted 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 mile. He won by a length and a half over High Priced.Trained by H. James Bond, Bo Bo's Vice was soundly defeated in his debut at Aqueduct on April 5, then was disqualified from victory and placed third when he lugged in during a May 4 race at Belmont Park. He shortened to 1 1/16 mile for a start on May 21, when he easily broke his maiden.Saturday, he made it look easy again. He stayed back with jockey Jorge Chavez, while favored Sway of Passion set the pace of :22 4/5; :46 1/5 and 1:11. It was a pressured pace, however, and when Sway of Passion stopped on the rail, Jet Alert took the lead with High Priced on his heels.Those two continued to battle through the lane; meanwhile, Bo Bo's Vice launched a bid widest of all on the turn, came to the head of the lane with clear sailing and rolled to win in 1:43 3/5. He returned $6.50 for every $2 win ticket."He's just like his daddy (Raffie's Majesty)," Bond said. "He is a big strong horse -his mare (Bo Bo's Sister, by Talc) is a big mare - and he has had four big races now. Hopefully, he'll turn out to be something special."Jet Alert was third, with Thanasi, Cape Pogue and the favorite, Sway of Passion, bringing up the rear. In the Statue of Liberty Division for 3-year-old fillies, Chester and Mary Broman's favored Beautiful America rallied on the turn, swept to the lead and drew off to a six-length victory over Hanselina in 1:42 2/5. The time was faster than Bob Bo's Vice. And she carried 122 pounds in her race, while he carried 114 pounds in his.
Ridden by Jose Santos, whose three-win day on Saturday was marred by the third-place finish of Kentucky Derby/Preakness winner Funny Cide in the 135th Belmont Stakes, Beautiful America improved her record to 5-1-2 from nine career starts. This, however, was her first win in three tries in 2003. She paid $4.90 to win."She ran big today -- I think she liked the track," said trainer Ramon "Mike" Hernandez. "It was nice to see her get back to herself. She had some trouble in her last start." Beautiful America, a daughter of Dixie Brass, is now 3-for-3 at Belmont Park. "She ran the race the way I expected her to," Santos said. "She was working dynamite in the mornings. When she ran at Aqueduct, she didn't like the track. But she really likes this track."(Chart, Equibase)