Alpine Princess overcomes bad start to take Untapable

Alpine Princess’s second stakes start turned out far better than her first one. Beaten almost 30 lengths in the Grade 1 Alcibiades this past fall at Keeneland, Alpine Princess led nearly all the way to land the $97,000 Untapable Stakes on Saturday at Fair Grounds.

Favored at 17-10 under Florent Geroux, Alpine Princess, breaking from the rail, stumbled slightly just after the start and was last after 10 strides, but she came through along the inside to take the lead into the first turn and never relinquished it. Alpine Princess on paper didn’t look like the speed of the Untapable – but she was.

“She was getting squeezed pretty hard in there and I thought my best option was letting her run,” said Geroux.

:: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets.

Chased by 5-2 shot Legadema, Alpine Princess got an easy, unpressured half-mile in 48.29 seconds, coasted around the turn, drew clear in upper stretch and had plenty left to stave off a mild rally from her Brad Cox-trained stablemate, West Omaha, who wound up second by three lengths over Sistina Chapel. Alpine Princess clocked 1:43.08 for one mile 70 yards over a fast track and paid $5.40.

Legadema faded to finish a distant fourth, but she and fifth-place Band of Gold, who beat only Fibber, earned Kentucky Oaks qualifying points, distributed 10,5,3,2 and 1 to the top five finishers.

Alpine Princess scored a second-out Saratoga maiden win that earned her an Alcibiades start, but there, she acted up in the starting gate, got away flat-footed, and never came close to contention. Cox got her back on track with a first-level Churchill Downs allowance race win last month over Sistina Chapel, and Alpine Princess became a stakes winner Saturday. Runner-up West Omaha, who somewhat surprisingly stalked several lengths off the pace, finished decently while racing greenly through the homestretch in her two–turn debut.

Cox trains Alpine Princess, a daughter of Classic Empire and Le Moine, by Curlin, for Full of Run Racing and Madaket Stable. It would be no surprise to see her skip the Silverbulletday Stakes next month in favor of the Rachel Alexandra in February, while West Omaha could be a logical Silverbulletday starter seeking her own first stakes win.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.