Cotillion likely next start for Untapable

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Untapable, the leading 3-year-old filly in the country, returned to Saratoga shortly after 9 a.m. Monday a bit tired but otherwise okay following her fifth-place finish against males in Sunday’s $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park.

It was the first loss in five starts this year for Untapable, who tried the Haskell after dominant performances in the Kentucky Oaks and Mother Goose, both Grade 1 races.

Trainer Steve Asmussen felt that a poor break on a day when speed was very good at Monmouth compromised Untapable’s chances to run a better race in the Haskell. She was beaten nine lengths by loose-on-the-lead winner Bayern.

“It wasn’t meant to be yesterday,” Asmussen said on a soggy Monday morning at Saratoga. “She was six or seven back after a sixteenth of a mile, trying to get a little position on a very speed-favoring racetrack. The filly was very hot and very tired when she came back. It was definitely not the day to not get away well with the bias.”

Asmussen seemed pleased with how the filly looked coming off the van – “She appears healthy and very sound,” he said – and likely will point Untapable to the Grade 1, $1 million Cotillion at Parx on Sept. 20. The Cotillion, which Asmussen won in 2012 with My Miss Aurelia, is for 3-year-old fillies and run at 1 1/16 miles.

“Absolutely,” Asmussen said. “It gives her plenty of time.”

Untapable has won four graded stakes this year, and Asmussen said he’s really looking forward to seeing her race as a 4-year-old.
“Being around Untapable and the tremendous talent that she has and what she’s done, I think is just a glimpse of who we’ll see in the future,” Asmussen said. “As much as she’s grown, I still think the filly will fill out and be 75 to 100 pounds bigger when she grows up.”
– additional reporting by Jim Dunleavy