Stopchargingmaria ekes out Demoiselle score

Stopchargingmaria just got the best of her rivals in a three-way battle to the finish line (NYRA/Adam Colgianese Photography)

Repole Stable’s Stopchargingmaria just got up to take Saturday’s Grade 2, $400,000
Demoiselle at Aqueduct over
stablemate Got Lucky and tenacious pacesetter Penwith. The Todd
Pletcher-trained juvenile miss lived up to her 4-5 favoritism in the
nine-furlong contest, which was clocked in a pedestrian time of 1:52 3/5 over
the fast main track.

“I was pleased with both of their races. Big effort by Got Lucky in her
second start,” Pletcher said. “The thing I thought (Stopchargingmaria)
had going for her is a good foundation and the fact that she has a good mind.
She’s very ratable. She’s kind. She’s not the kind you have to worry about
getting too headstrong, but it’s a mile and an eighth, and it’s a long way for
two-year-old fillies.

“I thought she ran really well,” he added about Got Lucky. “Things got a
little tight there around the sixteenth-pole. She just maybe got a little
intimidated, but I thought it was a big effort for her second start. A little
intimidated, but still courageous.”

Penwith tried to lead all the way home, setting sedate splits of :25 1/5, :50
3/5 and 1:15 2/5 while tracked by Stopchargingmaria to her outside. The
Bernardini lass still held the advantage entering the stretch and appeared ready
to spring an upset at 9-1, but soon found herself facing a new rival.

Stopchargingmaria gave her connections back-to-back wins in the Demoiselle (NYRA/Chelsea Durand/Adam Colgianese Photography)

“I had a beautiful trip all the way in the race. Small field, outside
post, I controlled the race all the way,” Castellano remarked. “I like the way she did it today
— she’s
very amazing. Everything I asked, she responded. The question today was two
turns, a mile and an eighth, and she handled it so well. She got it done today.”

“There’s a lot of upside to her, which is a good thing. There’s a lot of room to
grow,” stated Got Lucky’s jockey, Mike Smith. “Second time out, in tight; it was a little scary in there. Then, she saw
the camera people at the wire from a distance. With a little improvement, I
think she beats them.”

“She ran great, unlucky to run so hard and finish third. She didn’t
have any quit in her,” remarked Kiaran McLaughlin, who conditions Penwith. “We’re happy and disappointed, but she ran really well
having just broken her maiden.”

Stopchargingmaria paid $3.90 for the win, her second graded triumph following
a 10 3/4-length romp in the Tempted earlier this month. Lexi Morgan followed the
top three under the wire as America and Mlle. Minuit completed the order of
finish.

“It’s nice winning this race back-to-back years,” said Mike Repole, who
captured the 2012 Demoiselle with Unlimited Budget in front-running fashion. “To
win it with Unlimited Budget and now with Stopchargingmaria, it’s fun. She was
so close to being a Grade 1 horse. We put her in Grade 3 company last time and
she won impressively. Today, she had an advantage with four races under her belt
as opposed to some of them who had run once or twice. I didn’t know if she would
get this distance, but if she ever was going to win at 1 1/8 miles, today was
the day.”

Stopchargingmaria opened her racing career with a 5 1/2-length debut win at
Saratoga in mid-July. She made her stakes bow a second-place run in the Spa’s
Spinaway before crossing the line in third a month later in the Frizette at
Belmont. Now 3-1-1 from five races, the Tale of the Cat filly has racked up
$548,000 in
lifetime earnings.

Bred in Kentucky by Harvey Clarke and Brookdale Farm LLC, Stopchargingmaria
sold for $47,000 as a Keeneland September yearling before being snapped up by
Repole Stables as a $220,000 OBS March Selected two-year-old in training
purchase earlier this year. She is the first registered foal out of the Grade
3-placed stakes-winning Montbrook mare Exotic Bloom.