Stopchargingmaria delivers as Alabama favorite

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - All of a sudden, the 3-year-old filly division has gotten very interesting.

Dominated by Kentucky Oaks and Mother Goose winner Untapable for the first half of the year, the division now has three multiple Grade 1 winners after Stopchargingmaria won Saturday’s $600,000 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga by three-quarters of a length over Joint Return. Sweet Reason, winner of the Test and Acorn, is the division’s other multiple Grade 1 winner.

Saturday’s win completed a sweep of this track’s Grade 1 stakes for 3-year-old fillies as Stopchargingmaria also won the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks. Prior to that, Stopchargingmaria won the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan.

A showdown for divisional honors could take place in the Grade 1, $1 million Cotillion Stakes at Parx on Sept. 20.

“I think she’s the best filly in the country,” owner Mike Repole said of Stopchargingmaria. “That’s where we’re going.”

Stopchargingmaria won the Alabama despite being forced to race wide throughout under John Velazquez. Size, breaking outside of Stopchargingmaria, went to the front as expected and set fractions of 24.36 seconds for the quarter, 49.92 for the half-mile, and 1:16.18 for six furlongs.

Stopchargingmaria was three-wide entering the first turn and four-to-five wide down the backside.

“In a perfect world maybe we wouldn’t have been quite so wide around the first turn,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. ‘’We just wanted to make sure we got into a comfortable rhythm. We were willing to give up a little bit of ground to do that.”

Velazquez said he let Stopchargingmaria run leaving the half-mile pole and she steadily advanced toward Size. Turning for home, however, Size drifted out, carrying Stopchargingmaria out a path and leaving room for Miss Besilu to shoot through along the inside under Jose Lezcano.

But when confronted by Miss Besilu, Stopchargingmaria responded and drew away from her while having more than enough to hold off the late run of 24-1 shot Joint Return, under Kendrick Carmouche, who finished one-half length in front of Miss Besilu. She was followed, in order, by Fortune Pearl, Got Lucky, America, Catch My Drift, Unbridled Forever, and Size.

“The horse on the lead was starting to get out and somebody else got through on the rail, which I was pretty mad about, but she showed up and put up a good fight,” Velazquez said.

Stopchargingmaria, a daughter of Tale of the Cat, covered the 1 1/4 miles in 2:05.14 and returned $4 as the even-money favorite.

It was the third straight year that a filly won the Coaching Club and Alabama. Two years ago it was Questing. Last year, it was Princess of Sylmar, also trained by Pletcher.

Joint Return, beaten 4 3/4 lengths by Stopchargingmaria in the Black-Eyed Susan, did show improvement with the addition of blinkers.

“Blinkers made all the difference in the world,” trainer John Servis said. “Last time” - when second in the Delaware Oaks - “he’s riding her from the get-go and she’s just steadily dropping back. Today he just gathered her up and was able to sit on her and he said ‘John when I eased her out turning for home she just exploded.’ Very happy with it. I would have been happier with a win, but very happy with second.”