Untapable retired after Fleur de Lis loss

The champion Untapable has been retired following a fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis Handicap on Saturday night at Churchill Downs, owner-breeder Ron Winchell confirmed Sunday. Future broodmare plans for the mare were not immediately discussed.

“After having a truly great 3-year-old season and currently the No. 1 U.S. earner for Tapit – it’s time!” Winchell posted on his Twitter account Sunday night.

Untapable, trained by Steve Asmussen, concludes her career with a record of 20-9-5-2 and earnings of $3,926,625. She lost her last seven starts but had not missed the top three until recent months, when she finished fourth in her title defense of the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Invitational in April at Oaklawn Park and then fourth in the Fleur de Lis, her first loss at Churchill Downs.

“She went into that last race perfect,” Winchell Thoroughbreds racing manager David Fiske said. “She worked great, she looked great. Steve was very happy with her. There’s no way we would have run her if she wasn’t 100 percent. What’s become of her is she doesn’t relax in her races, and against that kind of competition, that’s a problem. It’s kind of a Jekyll-and-Hyde situation, where she’s perfect until you put her in the gate.”

A Grade 2 winner as a juvenile, Untapable earned the Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old filly of 2014, when she went unbeaten against her own sex, marked by signature triumphs in the Kentucky Oaks and Breeders’ Cup Distaff. She posted additional Grade 1 scores that season in the Mother Goose – by 9 1/4 lengths – and Cotillion.

Untapable’s other Grade 1 victory and lone win following that 2014 campaign came in the 2015 Apple Blossom.

Untapable is the leading U.S. earner for North America’s two-time leading sire Tapit, whom the Winchells campaigned and maintain an interest in. She is out of the Prized mare Fun House, and her third dam is Winchell foundation mare Carols Christmas.

Fun House was already a Grade 1 producer, with Donegal Racing’s Paddy O’Prado, and was honored as Kentucky Broodmare of the Year in 2014. The Winchells own Untapable’s 3-year-old full brother, Taprize, winless in his first two starts for Asmussen; her 2-year-old full sister, Untapped, who has been training at Keeneland; her yearling full sister; and a full brother foaled in April.

–additional reporting by Marty McGee