Stopshoppingdebbie works hard to remain unbeaten

AUBURN, Wash. – Surviving some anxious moments through the final yards, Stopshoppingdebbie held on to win Sunday’s $50,000 Washington State Legislators Stakes at Emerald Downs, running her undefeated record to 7 for 7.

Stopshoppingdebbie prevailed by a half-length over Goin to the Window, her Tom Wenzel-trained stablemate, in a field of six fillies and mares. A third Wenzel trainee, Blueberry Smoothie, finished third in the six-horse field. All three are owned by their breeder, Jerre Paxton’s Northwest Farms.

After breaking alertly with jockey Rocco Bowen, Stopshoppingdebbie settled in behind a moderate pace before making her patented circling move on the turn. Fanned five-wide into the lane, Stopshoppindebbie rolled through the final five-sixteenths in a rapid 29.36 seconds to complete the 6 1/2 furlongs in a stakes-record 1:14.20.

Taking the overland route was part of the plan, Wenzel said.

“We just tried to keep her out of trouble and let her do her thing,” Wenzel said.

By sweeping the top three placings, Paxton pocketed $45,000 of the $50,000 purse and Stopshoppingdebbie increased her lifetime ledger to $183,773. Goin to the Window and Blueberry Smoothie have been her persistent foils. All three are 4-year-old fillies.

“It’s unfortunate they’re all there together … it’s tough on these other fillies to have the other one win all the time,” Wenzel said. “But we’re fortunate to have all three of them.”

Stopshoppingdebbie, who won her sixth consecutive stakes race and paid $2.60, snapped a 10-year losing streak for the Washington State Legislators betting favorite. Only two betting favorites – Fleet Pacific in 2001 and Ema Bovary in 2003 – had captured the WSL in its first 18 runnings. When Fleet Pacific won by a half-length in 2001, the runner-up at 22-1 was Taste the Passion – the dam of Stopshoppingdebbie.