Aqueduct: Stopchargingmaria heavily favored in Demoiselle

[bc_video_id:311108:]OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Fresh from a romping victory in the Tempted Stakes, Stopchargingmaria will be favored against five last-out maiden winners and one maiden in Saturday’s Grade 2 Demoiselle Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Aqueduct.

The 92nd running of the Demoiselle, which received a purse hike to $400,000 for this renewal, is race 6, and the first of four graded stakes on a 10-race program.

In winning the Tempted at Aqueduct on Nov. 3 by more than 10 lengths, Stopchargingmaria became owner Mike Repole’s first stakes winner at this track since his huge day last year, when his royal blue and orange silks were in the winner’s circle following the Cigar Mile, Fall Highweight, Remsen, and Demoiselle.

“We [hadn’t] gotten a nice one like that for a while here, but I guess I’m back at my home track . . . and it seems I do better here than most other places,” Repole said. “She really did it so easy . . . she was much the best.”

Stopchargingmaria’s performance in the Tempted also impressed her trainer, Todd Pletcher, although the Tale of the Cat filly did not bust any stopwatches as the race was more than a full second slower than the Nashua for 2-year-old males later that day.

“It’s hard to gauge the last race how good it was,” Pletcher said. “She came to the wire well in hand with her ears pricked. Why the [Beyer Speed Figures] don’t show it’s a monstrous effort, I don’t know. It sure looked that way.”

Like her five rivals, Stopchargingmaria stretches out from a one-turn mile, but as the lone stakes winner in the field she must concede six pounds to all other starters.

“I don’t think two turns will be an issue with her,” said Pletcher, who also sends out Got Lucky and Lexi Morgan.

Although she broke slowly in her debut, Got Lucky, a daughter of A.P. Indy, finished strongly for second.

“Basically [we’re running] because of her pedigree and the way she’s trained,” said Pletcher, who has won the Demoiselle four times since 2001, including the past two renewals. “She ran well first time out. It’s an opportunity for the filly to get some black type.”

Penwith, a daughter of Bernardini whose half-sister and stablemate Centring was the morning-line choice in Friday’s Go for Wand, was loose on the lead against Got Lucky and prevailed by a length in her second start for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. The granddaughter of A.P. Indy figures to put pace pressure on the favorite.

“Everything went right for her that day – she broke on the lead and was there,” McLaughlin said. “Hopefully, again, she’s forwardly placed and can work out a good trip. She’s improving and doing well. It’s a big step up from just breaking your maiden, but that’s what people seem to do these days.”

America, an A.P. Indy filly owned and bred by celebrity chef Bobby Flay, will be receiving first-time Lasix following her maiden win at Belmont Park on Oct. 9 for trainer Bill Mott, who has saddled two Demoiselle winners.

The New York-bred Mlle. Minuit, a recent maiden graduate for trainer Kathleen Feron, completes the lineup.