Horse racing: Stopchargingmaria wins Black-Eyed Susan

Stopchargingmaria pulled away from Vero Amore in a two-horse stretch duel to win the $500,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes by a neck Friday at Pimlico in Baltimore.

Stopchargingmaria, the 7-2 favorite, sat back behind pace-setter Image of Anna and angled four wide near the backstretch before driving to the finish under jockey Javier Castellano.

It was the fourth Black-Eyed Susan win for trainer Todd Pletcher, who also won this Grade 2 race for 3-year-old fillies in 2005, 2007 and 2012.

Stopchargingmaria is named for owner Mike Repole’s wife, Maria, who he has said jokingly that she likes to shop a lot. The filly has won half her eight career races but was winless in two tries this year before this one.

Stopchargingmaria paid $9.60, $5.60 and $4. Vero Amore paid $12.80 and $9.40, and third-place finisher Fortune Pearl returned $5.80.

Jockey makes costly mistake

Jockey Stacie Clark-Rogers misjudged the finish line and it cost a victory in the Lady Legends Race at Pimlico.

Thinking she had the race wrapped up aboard Graced, Clark-Rogers stood in the irons to celebrate about 40 yards from the wire. Andrea Seefeldt Knight took advantage of the blunder and rode to the finish. Her mount Zuerstgold won by a neck over Graced.

“Everything was going great and I just screwed up and misjudged the wire,” Clark-Rogers said. “It’s been a while since I hit the wire first.”

It was the final edition of the Lady Legends, created in 2010 to salute pioneering female riders and raise funds for breast cancer research.