Untapable sharp in latest work for Oaklawn's Azeri

NEW ORLEANS – It’s unfortunate that Fair Grounds has no real stakes program for older female dirt-route horses because there are several really good ones stabled on the track’s backstretch this winter.

The most accomplished of the bunch, Untapable, had her strongest work since she resumed training following a late-fall, early-winter break, going five furlongs in 1:01.80 on Thursday.

“It was beautiful,” said Scott Blasi, Fair Grounds assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen. “I love her energy since she’s come back.”

Untapable’s most recent race produced a second-place finish in the Grade 1 Spinster Stakes on Oct. 4. She got sick and was taken out of consideration for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff – which she won during her championship 2014 season – the week of the race. Owner Ron Winchell elected to bring Untapable back for a 5-year-old campaign, and she, like a few of her peers at Fair Grounds, could wind up at Oaklawn Park to make her seasonal debut in the Azeri Stakes next month.

The Azeri also is the tentative plan for Ahh Chocolate, who ended her 3-year-old campaign with a good win in the Grade 2 Falls City at Churchill Downs. Ahh Chocolate worked a half-mile in 48.80 seconds on Wednesday and has pleased trainer Neil Howard since she returned to training after a short break in Kentucky.

Also on a steady work pattern now is I’m a Chatterbox, who won the Fair Grounds Oaks here last year on the way to being named an Eclipse Award finalist. I’m a Chatterbox has worked three furlongs twice now and should breeze again this weekend, and trainer Larry Jones has mentioned the Azeri as a possible landing spot, though he won’t rush the filly to make the race.

The 4-year-old Forever Unbridled, the winner of the Comely Stakes and the Houston Ladies Classic in her last two starts, also is scheduled to make her 4-year-old debut at Oaklawn, but trainer Dallas Stewart plans to wait for the Grade 1 Apple Blossom in April and bypass the Azeri.