Untapable, Stopchargingmaria throw down in Shuvee
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Saratoga has the reputation of being hazardous to the success of champion Thoroughbreds, but beyond that is the realization that a top-notch opponent isn’t easy for any champion to beat.
When Untapable, last year’s champion 3-year-old filly, makes her Saratoga debut in Sunday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Shuvee Handicap, Stopchargingmaria – and not history – will be her toughest foe.
Stopchargingmaria was a finalist for the Eclipse Award that Untapable won last year. Stopchargingmaria’s credentials were built on what she did at Saratoga last summer, winning the Coaching Club American Oaks and Alabama, both Grade 1 distance races for 3-year-old fillies. Untapable, who at 3 won the Kentucky Oaks and the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, did not race at Saratoga last year.
Untapable, second in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps on June 5, has the Personal Ensign here Aug. 29 as her major objective of the summer, but trainer Steve Asmussen feels she is less aggressive than in the past and that she would benefit from running in the Shuvee.
“We spent the first two years trying to get her to slow down in everything that she did,” Asmussen said. “Well, now that she’s responded to that, it’s kind of put us in a little bit different position. She’s tempered her speed. She’s an older mare now; she’s more relaxed. She’s easier on herself in every facet.”
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Stopchargingmaria has run only twice this year, finishing second in the Grade 1 Madison at Keeneland before winning the Grade 3 Allaire duPont Distaff at Pimlico on May 15. She was being pointed to the Ogden Phipps Stakes but did not enter after contracting a virus that hit part of trainer Todd Pletcher’s barn.
Overall, she is 3 for 4 at Saratoga, with a runner-up finish to Sweet Reason in the Grade 1 Spinaway as a 2-year-old.
“I do think Stopchargingmaria loves Saratoga,” Pletcher said. “She’s been training extremely well. Usually, when she is breezing the way she currently is, she goes over and runs very well. Hopefully, she’ll run her race and see how that stacks up.”
House Rules, the winner of the Grade 3 Top Flight, won a first-level allowance race last summer here going 1 1/8 miles. She blew out three furlongs in 38.92 seconds over the Oklahoma training track on Friday.
Completing the field are Privet Hedge, making her first start in the U.S. and for Bill Mott, Imposing Grace, and Tiz Windy.
The Shuvee goes as race 10 on an 11-race card at 6:07 p.m. Eastern, about 15 minutes after the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park, a race featuring Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and one that can be seen via simulcast at Saratoga.
KEY CONTENDERS
Stopchargingmaria (Last 3 Beyers: 94-92-89)
◗ She has four wins and two seconds in her last six starts dating back 15 months. She is 4 for 4 in 1 1/8-mile races run around two turns.
◗ Has two bullet works from her last three moves over the main track, an indication that she is sitting on a top race.
“She’s pretty transparent,” Pletcher said.
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Untapable (Last 3 Beyers: 93-98-95)
◗ Has not been quite as sharp from the gate this year as in the past, something Asmussen felt might have hampered her in the Ogden Phipps.
◗ There does not appear to be much pace in here, so if she breaks, she figures to be on or near the lead.
◗ As the 123-pound highweight, she is spotting three to nine pounds to the rest of the field.