Distaff: Untapable, Close Hatches draw outside

ARCADIA, Calif. – The Breeders’ Cup Distaff favorites drew advantageous outside post positions Monday for the $2 million race that will be held Friday at Santa Anita.

Close Hatches and Untapable drew comfortably on the outside in posts 10 and 11 for the centerpiece race Friday. A field of 11 entered the Distaff, race 9 on a 10-race card.

Untapable is the 2-1 favorite on the Daily Racing Form morning line, with Close Hatches the second choice at 5-2. Santa Anita oddsmaker Jon White opened Untapable as the 5-2 favorite, with Close Hatches the second choice at 3-1.

While the draw does not compromise Untapable or Close Hatches, it may force the hand of three front-runners inside. Tiz Midnight drew post 2, Iotapa drew post 3, and Belle Gallantey drew post 4. Those three must use their speed to gain position. The early pace could be quick.

Close Hatches also has speed, and from the outside post, she is at risk at being parked wide. But a long run to the first turn for the 1 1/8-mile race theoretically allows jockey Joel Rosario the option of taking back off the speed or going on with it.

:: BREEDERS’ CUP 2014: Post positions and odds

The main beneficiary of the post draw is Untapable. From post 10, she can be positioned wherever Rosie Napravnik sees fit, in the clear. If the pace unfolds as quickly as it figures to, she should have every chance to overcome the speed-friendly track profile.

Untapable, the winner of the Kentucky Oaks and two other Grade 1 races this year, won her last start and has thrived in training at Santa Anita over the past month. Meanwhile, Close Hatches enters the Distaff off a fourth-place finish as the odds-on favorite in the Grade 1 Spinster at Keeneland.

European import L’Amour de Ma Vie drew post 1 for her first start on dirt.

The Distaff is the anchor leg of the pick six. The sequence (races 4-9) has a guaranteed pool of $750,000. The Distaff also anchors a Breeders’ Cup pick four (races 6-9) that includes the Juvenile Turf, Dirt Mile, and Juvenile Fillies Turf.

The Distaff field, with riders, in post-position order: L’Amour de Ma Vie, Maxime Guyon; Tiz Midnight, Victor Espinoza; Iotapa, Joe Talamo; Belle Gallantey, Jose Ortiz; Unbridled Forever, John Velazquez; Stanwyck, Corey Nakatani; Don’t Tell Sophia, Joe Rocco; Valiant Emilia, Rafael Bejarano; Ria Antonia, Paco Lopez; Untapable, Napravnik; and Close Hatches, Rosario.