Untapable and rivals exit Oaks in good shape

Jockey Rosie Napravnik was all smiles following Untapable's Oaks victory (Cecilia Gustavsson/Horsephotos.com) With an authoritative 4 1/2-length win in Friday's Kentucky Oaks, Untapable made a case that she could be the top three-year-old in the nation, male or female, regardless of the result in Saturday's Kentucky Derby. The Tapit filly remains undefeated, and virtually unchallenged, in 2014 and her final time was a mere .04 seconds off the Oaks record set by Bird Town in 2003. Saturday morning, Steve Asmussen was exactly where one would expect the sport's all-time leading active trainer with 6,760 career wins to be -- back at work. But while the routine was normal, the morning certainly wasn't. There was little time to bask in Untapable's accomplishment, especially with Tapiture only 10 hours from a start in the Kentucky Derby. Asmussen, in between accepting congratulations from passers-by and bringing sets of horses to the track, reflected on Friday's personal and professional triumph. "We were very proud of her race yesterday," he said. "Not only did she beat a quality field, she did it very impressively. But then we immediately moved on to what we have to do with Tapiture today." Asmussen reported that Untapable came back from the race in fine shape and will get a few days to recover before returning to the track. "She got out walking good and looks good," Asmussen said. "We'll just let her rest up from her efforts yesterday." Not every horse who gets the rare chance to wear a garland of fresh flowers and stand for a portrait with dozens of the family, friends and caretakers who helped to get her there truly understands what it all means. Asmussen insisted, though, that this "truly special mare" understands her job.

"She's a very confident horse," he said. "She's very forward, motor's running

and stuff. She goes out there to win."

There have not been any conversations between Asmussen and owner Ron Winchell

about a possible next start. While a try in the Preakness, a la Rachel

Alexandra, has not been ruled out, Asmussen said earlier this week he didn't

think the timing of the May 17 middle jewel was right for his fit but slight

filly. At Friday's post-race press conference, Asmussen expressed his wish that

Tapiture be their only Preakness horse if all goes to plan.

"It would be a very wise decision for us to keep them apart," Asmussen said.

Friday's winner's circle scene was an emotional one for Asmussen, punctuated

with bear hugs for friends and long embraces with his parents and three young

boys. The cathartic outpouring came primarily from pride in his filly, he said,

but was likely extra poignant in light of a trying spring in which Asmussen was

charged in the national media with mistreatment of horses in his care. After

weeks of defending his operation through lawyers, prepared statements and even a

sit-down interview with Bob Costas on network television, Asmussen ultimately

allowed Untapable to issue what might be the most meaningful commentary of them

all.

"I'm very proud of the filly," the trainer said from atop his pony as he

accompanied still more gallopers to the track for their morning exercise. "I

love all of the well-wishers that are proud of her and proud of us. It's a great

feeling."

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In other Kentucky Oaks news:

Every runner but Fashion Plate, who nicked her leg in the gate, came out out of the Oaks in good order (Cecilia Gustavsson/Horsephotos.com) Trainer Todd Pletcher reported Saturday morning that both of his Oaks fillies, second-place finisher My Miss Sophia and the seventh-place horse Got Lucky, "are in good shape." "They came out of their races well," he said. "I was especially happy with My Miss Sophia's effort. She ran hard and she ran well. I think the Acorn is high on the list for her next start." The Acorn, with a purse of $750,000, runs at a mile on the Belmont Stakes card at Belmont Park on June 7. Pletcher said that both fillies would be shipped to his New York stable. Unbridled Forever, who finished third in the Kentucky Oaks on Friday, came out of the race well, trainer Dallas Stewart said Saturday morning. "Well, she looks go so far,'' Stewart said. "We haven't gotten her out yet, but she looks good. She ate well last night and is moving good in the stall. That's a good sign."

Stewart said he doesn't have a campaign in mind for Unbridled Forever.

"You've got the Acorn in five weeks, the Test," Stewart said.

The timing of the Acorn "should be fine," Stewart said. "We just have to

see."

Unbridled Forever finished 10 1/2 lengths behind winner Untapable on Friday.

In the Fair Grounds Oaks, third-place Unbridled Forever finished 9 1/2 lengths

behind winner Untapable. The form held.

"Tell you what, it's a great deal for Fair Grounds," Stewart said.

Rosalind closed for fourth in Friday's Oaks, an effort trainer Kenny McPeek

was satisfied with.

"She came back with a nick on her left-hind pastern but it's no big deal," he

said. "No excuse and we were pleased with the effort."

McPeek believes that Rosalind's future is on the grass and he is looking hard

at taking her to England for either the 1 1/2-mile Oaks at Epsom on June 6 or

the one-mile Coronation at Royal Ascot on June 20.

Trainer Mike Maker said Saturday that he has yet to consider his options for

Thank You Marylou, who finished fifth in the Oaks.

"I haven't really given it a thought," Maker said Saturday morning. "I wasn't

really going to worry about it until tomorrow."

Thank You Marylou is a stakes winner on dirt and turf, and Grade 1-placed on

Polytrack, so he has options.

She finished 12 1/2 lengths behind Untapable. "Just outrun," Maker said.

"There were some good fillies in front of her."

Jim Barnes, assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, said that Ria

Antonia came out of the Kentucky Oaks in good condition.

"Mike (Smith) got her out and into a contending position, but she just wasn't

able to continue on," Barnes said. "We ran into a very nice filly in that race."

Trainer Doug Anderson said that Sugar Shock came out of her eighth-place

finish in the Kentucky Oaks in good order and would be shipped to Prairie

Meadows in Iowa on Monday to rejoin the rest of his stable.

"She came back good and ate up everything last night," Anderson said. "I was

a little disappointed she didn't keep fighting, but that's horse racing. We'll

give her some time to recuperate and may look at the Iowa Oaks (on June 28)."

Trainer Wayne Catalano said that when he plans the rest of the 2014 campaign

for Aurelia's Belle, races not on dirt will be the focus.

"It will be grass or Poly," Catalano said of the surface for her next start.

"We won't rule out dirt forever, just maybe not so much this one."

Catalano has a barn at Churchill Downs and at Arlington Park, where Polytrack

is the surface for the main track.

"We'll talk it over with Mr. Miller about what to do and what her next races

are," Catalano said.

In the Oaks, Aurelia's Belle was in fifth place after quarter-mile but

couldn't keep up. She finished ninth, 24 1/4 lengths behind Untapable.

"She looked great," Catalano said. "She had a great position. I was very

happy with the situation we were in. You couldn't ask for a better spot. When he

set her down, she was like floundering around, like it wasn't really the best

surface for her.

"Everything seems to be good. She ate well, and she looks OK."

Trainer Tom Proctor said that Please Explain was fine Saturday morning after

her run in the Oaks.

"She just wasn't fast enough," Proctor said.

Paul Eddery, assistant to trainer Simon Callaghan, said Fashion Plate would

be headed back to her home base in Southern California on Sunday morning after

her troubled run in the Oaks.

"She just got a little nick on the leg," Eddery said of Fashion Plate, who

was restless in the gate and hopped at the start, spotting the field several

lengths. "It could have been worse. (Jockey) Gary Stevens did the right thing

after the bad start and took care of her and we live to fight another day."

Kiss Moon was OK Saturday after her disappointing trip in the Oaks.

"She got a few cuts in behind from that incident at the gate when Fashion

Plate reared up," trainer David Vance said. "She hit her head on the gate and

lost her position. It was not the trip that I had hoped she would get."

Vance, who is stabled at Churchill Downs, said the $100,000 Regret on June 14

at 1 1/8 miles on the turf is a possibility for Kiss Moon's next start.

"I'll work her on the grass, and if she likes it that's where she will be,"

Vance said.

Empress of Midway, who flipped in the starting gate and was scratched from

the Kentucky Oaks, sustained a small scratch on a hind leg but otherwise was

unscathed according to Jack Sisterson, assistant to Doug O'Neill.

"She will go back to California on Monday," Sisterson said. "We haven't made

any plans for a next race. We'll see how she trains the next few days when she

gets back and see."

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