Like a scratch golfer who sailed one into the water in a friendly round at his home course, a champion racehorse sometimes deserves a mulligan.
Untapable, after a jaw-dropping defeat at Oaklawn Park last month, has received hers. On a stage today that Horses of the Year Zenyatta and Azeri gave command performances that all but had fans throwing roses at their feet, the 4-year-old Tapit filly owned by Ron and Joan Winchell hopes to show star quality in the Grade 1 $600,000 Apple Blossom Handicap.
Her March 14 defeat at 1-9 odds in the Grade 2 Azeri not held against her, Untapable is the 1-2 program favorite from post two under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez. Azeri winner Gold Medal Dancer returns, and Sugar Shock, a two-time stakes winner over the track, skipped Wednesday's Carousel at six furlongs for the mile-and-sixteenth Apple Blossom, taken last year by Azeri winner and future champion Close Hatches.
Trainer Steve Asmussen took Untapable's Azeri head defeat in stride, saying the combination of a four-month layoff, a soggy track over which the favorite tired and the winner's peak performance proved too much for Untapable to overcome.
"She needs to run faster," Asmussen said.
Gold Medal Dancer led from gate to wire in the mile-and-sixteenth Azeri, getting away with soft fractions (:48 4-5, 1:13 4-5) and holding on under Luis Quinonez. She received a career-best 97 Beyer Speed Figure to Untapable's 96. A strong early second choice today at 3-1, with a 4-pound break (121-117) from the champion, Gold Medal Dancer can expect Untapable's "A game" in the Apple Blossom. At least, her trainer does.
"Untapable's going to be faster this time," said Donnie Von Hemel. "How much do we need to improve to be able to compete with her?"
Gold Medal Dancer, breaking from post three, could face a challenge for the early lead from Sugar Shock in post seven under Channing Hill. A four-time Oaklawn winner, 4-year-old Sugar Shock is versatile as they come, making a last-to-first move in the Jan. 24 American Beauty at six furlongs but winning the Fantasy and another 2014 stakes race on the lead.
"Sugar Shock adds a little pace to the race, maybe," Von Hemel said. "It's hard to say what she's going to do in that regard. She can add pace to the race if she chooses to."
While Untapable prefers to stalk, Sugar Shock could inherit the lead if Gold Medal Dancer refuses to press the issue. Gold Medal Dancer pressed the pace three wide when third by three quarters of a length in the Grade 3 Bayakoa Feb. 15. Von Hemel said after the Azeri that the maturity gained in her 5-year-old season has given Gold Medal Dancer a broader range of tactics.
Gold Medal Dancer worked brilliantly for the Apple Blossom, five furlongs in 59 1-5 seconds over a fast track March 28. Untapable might have been even better two days later going six furlongs in 1:10 4-5, blowing out a half-mile in 48 seconds Monday.
"I can't remember anything here going that fast," said Jim Hamilton, an Oaklawn clocker since the mid-1980s, after Untapable's March 30 workout.
Asmussen said his filly "needed to do something" after tiring slightly in the Azeri, run over a wet track charitably listed as "good."
Call Pat, Pearl Turn, Diva's Diamond and Glorys Last Chance complete the field in the 51st Apple Blossom. Although mostly sunny skies are forecast in late afternoon, thunderstorms were expected overnight in the Hot Springs area, lending the possibility of an "off" track at 5:10 p.m. post time.
"Obviously we're a little concerned with what the weather does today. Pretty good chance of rain," Asmussen said. "It looks like it's inevitable, but I think that the racetrack might be in a little better shape to handle some water now. It was so saturated all of last month."
Regardless of conditions, they don't sell mulligans in Grade 1 races.
Sports on 04/10/2015