Untapable posted her final official
workout in advance of Friday’s Grade 1, $1 million Kentucky Oaks (GI), breezing a half-mile
over Churchill Downs’ fast dirt in
:48 3/5 under regular exercise rider Angel Garcia. The move was the seventh
fastest of 59 at the distance on the day under the Twin Spires.
The Oaks favorite accomplished
the move through splits of :12, :23 4/5 and :36. Churchill clockers also
noted her five-furlong gallop-out time of 1:02 4/5.
Untapable appeared on the track at 6:15 a.m. (EDT), accompanied by
trainer Steve Asmussen aboard a pony. The Tapit filly was very keen galloping down the
backside, tossing her head in anticipation of the work to come. Garcia broke her
off several jumps before the half-mile marker.
“She was very full of herself,” Asmussen said. “I thought Angel did a good job
of getting her to the pole because she seemed very physical. She went around
there really smooth. She is a filly, obviously, with a tremendous amount of
talent, and we will just try to keep her on the ground from here until Friday.”
Garcia has been Untapable’s exercise rider since she arrived at Fair Grounds to
kick off her three-year-old season in January, and Asmussen said that experience and
rapport is coming in handy as they approach their target date.
“Getting her to the pole today, I didn’t want to pony her around to the pole and
then break her off and then have her be horribly aggressive,” Asmussen
explained.
“That’s a lot of horse under you. Everybody can work a slow horse correctly
because there aren’t a lot of things that can happen, but when you have that
much talent to deal with, it puts quite a bit of pressure on you. Come work day
for her on race week, he is like, ‘easy baby.'”
All indications suggest that Untapable is amped up and ready to cut loose. The
remainder of this week will be about managing that enthusiasm.
“Her race (when taking Fair Grounds Oaks by 7 3/4 lengths) was five weeks ago,” Asmussen said. “She
trained so good at the Fair Grounds over the winter, and her races were just
tremendous. I think she came here with a lot more in her, with the timing and
stuff. With her, I think it is just trying to keep her on the ground, hold what
we’ve got. I wouldn’t have minded it being last week.
“We’ve spent the winter walking her, just walking her around, trying to get
patience. Her talent level is not in question, you just want her to show a
little patience.”
Joining Untapable on the Oaks worktab Sunday at Churchill was Kiss Moon, who
clocked five furlongs in 1:01 1/5 after the morning renovation break with Otto Thorwarth aboard for trainer David
Vance.
Working on her own, Kiss Moon
produced fractions of :12 1/5, :23 3/5 and :36 while galloping out six furlongs in 1:16.
The five-eighths move was the seventh fastest of 37 at the distance for the
morning.
“I thought the track was a little
slower than last week when she worked,” Vance said. “I had 1:01 in mind and he
hit it pretty close.”
Kiss Moon turned five-eighths in 1:00 3/5 last Monday in her first move since
a runner-up
effort in Oaklawn Park’s Fantasy on April 5. Although she never has raced at
Churchill Downs, the Malibu Moon filly is no stranger to the track.
“She came into the barn last
September and trained here all fall,” Vance explained. “I can’t use the track as an
excuse.”
Vance said that Kiss Moon would walk
Monday and then gallop the next three days with a possible trip to the gate on
Tuesday.
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