With three straight wins, Stopshoppingmaria has found her niche as a turf sprint specialist, capping her recent run on Sunday with a 1 3/4-length score in the $60,000 Ladies Turf Sprint S. at Gulfstream Park.
The victory was the first stakes win for Stopshoppingmaria, though the 4-year-old daughter of More Than Ready has plenty of back class, with second-place finishes in the Frizette S. (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G2) in 2010. She was one of two stakes horses over the weekend for her sire, along with Promise Me More, who was a game second in the Grade 3 Rachel Alexandra S. Feb. 23 at Fair Grounds.
After tracking in second for the first half of the five-furlong Ladies Sprint, Stopshoppingmaria asserted herself in the stretch, surging clear in the final eighth-mile to get the distance in :55.48.
Owned by Repole Stables and trained by Todd Pletcher, Stopshoppingmaria has bankrolled $379,160 and is 4-3-1 in nine lifetime outings. Bred in Kentucky by Mueller Farms Inc., Stopshoppingmaria is a half-sister to the stakes winners Sand Ridge and Dootsie.
