Stopchargingmaria Wins the Breeders' Cup Distaff

On a dramatic day of racing, the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Distaff lived up to the highly anticipated hype as Stopchargingmaria won the marquee event of Friday’s races.

Fanning six wide entering the stretch, she battled the 3-year old filly Stellar Wind all the way to the finish. Stopping the clock in 1:48.98, an inquiry was filed for a few slight outward drifts in the stretch, but the stewards did not feel there was enough evidence to change the outcome and the Todd Pletcher trained Stopchargingmaria was named the winner.

Breaking under even terms, the field of 14 set off on the fast Keeneland track for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. As expected, there was a rush of horses vying for the lead, and with the group going 5 wide into the first turn, the field settled into stride with Calamity Kate and Yahilwa on the front end setting fractions of :23.57 for the quarter mile and :47.28 for the half. Eventual winner, Stopchargingmaria was placed on the outside, running in the 4 path for the majority of the race.

Entering the final turn, the field began to bunch up, forcing Stopcharginmaria even wider to keep a clear path in front. With Stellar Wind steadily gaining ground on the outside, she hooked up with Stopchargingmaria at the top of the stretch and the two began their battle that would see them clear of the field with a 1/16 of a mile to go. Stopchargingmaria maintained a neck margin on her younger rival all the way through the wire. As evident by jockey Javier Castellano’s clean white silks at the finish, he was able to guide his filly to a clean trip despite the numerous speed horses in the field.

Not evident from the side view of the race, but there was some drifting out from Stopchargingmaria, despite right handed urging from Castellano. In the end, there was not enough evidence to convince the stewards that the race outcome had been effected, and the race order was unchanged. Taking nothing away from either horse, both trainers held their fillies in high praise and were thrilled at the outcome. “I’m very proud of her,” said trainer John Sadler of Stellar Wind. “She’s the best 3-year old filly in the country. She beat all the other 3-year olds.” A 4-year old daughter of Tale of the Cat, the win the Distaff pushed Stopchargingmaria’s earnings just shy of 3 million dollars. She returned $16.20 to win, $8.40 to place, and $6.00 to show on the typical $2 wager. Stellar Wind paid $9.20 and $6.60, while Curalina who finished third paid $7.00 to show.