Untapable sizzles in workout

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The champion roared Monday at Oaklawn Park.

In a powerful move, Untapable worked six furlongs in company in 1:10.80 as she continues preparations for her second start of the year. Untapable remains under consideration for the Grade 1, $600,000 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn and the Grade 1, $300,000 La Troienne at Churchill Downs, with her next start to be determined after conversations with the Winchell Thoroughbreds team, said trainer Steve Asmussen.

“Those would be the two choices,” Asmussen said Monday.

Untapable’s work was the fastest of four at the distance on a sunny, 50-degree morning during which the track was rated fast. She went in the second set, breaking off about eight lengths behind a workmate. Oaklawn head clocker Jim Hamilton caught Untapable in fractions of 12 seconds for the opening eighth of a mile, 23.20 for the first quarter, 34.80 for three furlongs, and 47.60 for the half-mile. Hamilton had Untapable’s final quarter in 23.20 seconds.

Untapable made up about three lengths on her mate into the turn and continued to reel in her company through the stretch, finishing less than a half-length off her mate at the wire. Untapable proceeded to gallop out strongly, going through seven furlongs in 1:24, according to Hamilton.

The purpose of the work was to open up Untapable some, said Asmussen.

“Just to drop her head,” he said. “We’re always holding her up. We wanted to just drop her head a little bit and let her breeze. She took it well.”

Asmussen likened the quick drill to the five furlongs Untapable worked in 58.60 seconds at Santa Anita in advance of her win in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

“You’re a little nervous, but you got to let her do something sometime,” he said. “She’s capable.”

Untapable won the Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old filly of 2014. She has raced once since the Breeders’ Cup, finishing second to wire-to-wire winner Gold Medal Dancer in the Grade 2, $294,000 Azeri on March 14 at Oaklawn.

Bold Conquest breezes

Asmussen had a pair of high-end horses out in the first set Monday, when Tapiture and Bold Conquest worked as a team, breezing six furlongs in 1:12.20. Tapiture, along the rail, and Bold Conquest, under jockey Ricardo Santana Jr., went through fractions of 12 seconds for the opening eighth of a mile, 23.60 for the first quarter, 35.80 seconds for three-eighths, and 48.40 for the half-mile, according to splits taken by Hamilton. Hamilton had the team’s final quarter in 23.80 seconds, then galloping out seven-eighths in 1:25.

Asmussen was pleased with the drill and said the next start for Tapiture is to be determined, while Bold Conquest is being pointed for the Arkansas Derby on April 11. Tapiture has been nominated to the Charles Town Classic and the Oaklawn Handicap.

Far Right to work this week

Far Right is scheduled to have his final work for the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby on Friday or Saturday, depending on the weather, trainer Ron Moquett said. Far Right had a pacing drill last Saturday at Oaklawn, going by himself after the break under the guidance of Moquett’s wife, Laura.

“I did a pretty stout gallop, a little bit better than a two-minute clip for about a mile and a half,” Ron Moquett said. “It was my way of letting him stretch his legs without working him; see where we’re at with his fitness.”

Moquett said he is pleased with where Far Right stands heading into the Arkansas Derby. The race will be the horse’s first since winning the Grade 3, $300,000 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn on Feb. 22. Mike Smith was aboard for the win – as well as Far Right’s victory in the Smarty Jones in January – and has the mount again in the Arkansas Derby, said Moquett.

Nominations for the Arkansas Derby, as well as the Apple Blossom and Oaklawn Handicap, are due out Wednesday, said stakes coordinator Glenn Reeder.