Stopchargingmaria points to Allaire DuPont Distaff

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A couple Grade 1-winning horses that at one time had been considered for major Kentucky Oaks/Kentucky Derby undercard races at Churchill Downs have been redirected elsewhere.

Stopchargingmaria, who had been considered a probable starter by the Churchill Downs racing office for the Friday’s Grade 1 La Troienne, now is being pointed toward the Grade 3 Allaire DuPont Distaff on May 15 at Pimlico, trainer Todd Pletcher said. She won the Black Eyed Susan over that racetrack last year.

“I didn’t think she loved the surface here [at Churchill]” when she breezed Apr. 24, Pletcher said, explaining her defection from the La Troienne.

Another top horse, Ring Weekend, whose connections had wanted to run him in Saturday’s Woodford Reserve before he developed a foot abscess, has resumed light training with trainer Graham Motion at Fair Hill Training Center but likely won’t be ready to race until June, said Jeff Lifson, executive vice president for West Point Thoroughbreds, which co-owns the horse with St. Elias Stable.

He said they hoped Ring Weekend would recover from his foot setback in time to race in the Dixie Stakes at Pimlico on Preakness Day, May 16, but that now seems improbable.