Untapable looks to turn tables in Apple Blossom

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The rematch is on.

Untapable, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2014, will be out for revenge Friday at Oaklawn Park when she takes another swing at Gold Medal Dancer in the Grade 1, $600,000 Apple Blossom Handicap. The pair met in last month’s Grade 2 Azeri, with Untapable, in her first start since winning the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, left chasing a loose-on-the-lead Gold Medal Dancer. The champion made a race out of it in the stretch, getting within a half-length of Gold Medal Dancer, who ended up celebrating a career-defining win that afternoon at Oaklawn.

“It was definitely the best performance of her life,” trainer Donnie Von Hemel said of Gold Medal Dancer. “It came against probably the best horse she’s ever faced in Untapable. Maybe we caught Untapable on the right day. Maybe our mare ran a good race. I thought it was a big effort from our mare, and we’re hoping to hold her at that, or even improve on it in the Apple Blossom.”

Steve Asmussen, who trains Untapable, is looking for a forward move from the champ Friday.

“She ran a nice race,” he said of the Azeri. “The winner ran extremely well. Obviously, we were disappointed that she was second, but she came out of it in good shape and has trained really well since, and hopefully we can get back to winning with her.”

The Apple Blossom, a 1 1/16-mile handicap that drew seven fillies and mares, continues the Racing Festival of the South, in which Oaklawn puts on nine stakes over the final week of its meet. The races are worth a cumulative $3.3 million. The season closes Saturday with the Arkansas Derby, the only Grade 1 race in the Southwest besides the Apple Blossom.

Apple Blossom Handicap (Race 9)

KEY CONTENDERS

Untapable (Last 3 Beyers: 96-103-94)

* She would seem to have a couple of factors working in her favor for the rematch. For starters, she could get a better pace setup in the Apple Blossom due to the presence of Sugar Shock and perhaps the rail-drawn Call Pat.

* Untapable also has trained sharply since the Azeri, working six furlongs in company in 1:10.80 in her final major prep March 30. In addition, the filly, who has just started her season, has made a nice transition from 3 to 4, said Asmussen.

“Everything you’d hoped for,” he said. “She’s carrying more weight. There’s more of her. We’re not up to the speed we were this time last year, but with an older mare, it’s a whole different deal.”

* Untapable, who last year launched her season in February with a win in the Grade 3 Rachel Alexandra en route to winning the Kentucky Oaks, has the season-ending goal of a return trip to the Breeders’ Cup.

“We’ll work from there backwards, so to speak,” Asmussen said of her campaign in 2015.

* John Velazquez has the mount from post 2 for Winchell Thoroughbreds.

Gold Medal Dancer (Last 3 Beyers: 97-94-79)

* She set the pace in the Azeri but is versatile.

“We’ve seen her win races from off the pace before,” said Von Hemel. “She’s most likely on the lead or stalking, depending on the pace scenario.”

* Gold Medal Dancer will get four pounds from the 121-pound highweight Untapable after getting five pounds from her under the allowance conditions of the Azeri.

* Luis Quinonez has the mount from post 5 for Pin Oak Stable.