All day long, front-runners were winning races wire to wire at Laurel Park, so when the $50,000 Straight Deal Stakes arrived, it figured that bettors would heavily back the speed horses.
There were plenty of swift options to select from with Calipha, Word O'Ransom and Philadelphia invader After The Glitter in the mix and a sloppy track making come-from-behind victories even more difficult.
At 11-to-1 odds, Simoom was little more than an afterthought on the tote board.
But both highly regarded pace-setters, Word O'Ransom and Calipha, faltered badly after four furlongs and Simoom swooped by under Edgar Prado for a 2 3/4 -length victory.
After The Glitter also rallied to gain second place by 4 1/2 lengths over long shot Princess Could Be. Calipha and Word O'Ransom finished together at the back of the seven-horse pack.
Simoom's trainer, Charlie Hadry, said he entered the race thinking "we had a good chance for second." But his filly took to the mud and earned a permanent trip to the farm.
"She got a hold of the off-track and now she's retiring on a win," said Hadry. "She'll be retired for breeding."
Simoom ends a 17-race career with six victories and lifetime earnings of $128,880.
Her owner, Carolyn Green, was on a Caribbean cruise and was expected back last night to receive the news.
"I was kind of worried because almost every winner had gone wire to wire," said Prado. "I was hoping the speed came back to me. It set up very nicely."
Calipha, the 1994 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes winner, appeared to be on an upward path after 18 months of health problems. It was hard to tell just where she stands after her second trip on a sloppy track.
"She just couldn't get her feet under her," said jockey Jeffrey Carle. "She couldn't handle the race track at all. Although she tried hard, she just kept going badly."
Word O'Ransom's owner, Samuel Rogers, said he "didn't really favor running her on this kind of track. We were afraid she wouldn't do any good. I think the filly has a little [health] problem that we're going to check out."
