Untapable, Sweet Reason bound for Breeders' Cup

Untapable and Sweet Reason, the top two finishers Saturday in the Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx, are bound for the Breeders’ Cup.

Untapable is being pointed to the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Oct. 31, where she will face older rivals at 1 1/8 miles. Sweet Reason’s plans are still up in the air as trainer Leah Gyarmati said Sunday morning that she and owner Jeff Treadway will discuss whether to point to the Distaff or the $1 million BC Filly and Mare Sprint at seven furlongs Nov. 1.

Trainer Steve Asmussen confirmed that Untapable and her stablemate, Tapiture, who finished second to Bayern in the Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby on Saturday, had both come out of their races well. At 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning, the two Tapit 3-year-olds were in flight to California.

Untapable bounced back in the $1 million Cotillion following her fourth-place finish against males in the Haskell Invitational. She relaxed nicely for Rosie Napravnik early in the 1 1/16-mile Cotillion, challenged three wide on the far turn, took the lead in upper stretch, and held off Sweet Reason by a length despite drifting in and out through the lane.

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Untapable, the undisputed leader of the 3-year-old filly division, has won 5 of 6 starts this year, including three Grade 1 races, the Kentucky Oaks, the Mother Goose, and the Cotillion. She was given a 94 Beyer Speed Figure for Saturday’s race.

Sweet Reason came into the two-turn Cotillion off sharp scores in the seven-furlong Test at Saratoga and the one-mile Acorn at Belmont Park. Both are Grade 1 races around one turn.

Sweet Reason settled about five lengths off the early pace, followed Untapable’s path into the stretch, and tried hard to the finish. She earned a 92 Beyer.

“She ran huge and I believe answered the ‘two turns’ question that a lot of people had been wondering about, including myself,” Gyarmati said. “Is she a spectacular one-turn horse that is just OK around two turns? I think she showed Saturday that she is pretty good around two turns too.”

During the stretch run, Gyarmati thought Sweet Reason might win.

“She was closing at the end, and I thought we had a chance to catch Untapable, but she drifted out a bit in front of us, and that might have slowed us down a little,” Gyarmati said. “I’m very proud of her.”

After being loaded in the starting gate, Sweet Reason hit the front of her stall door, popping it open. Fortunately, her assistant starter kept a good hold and prevented her from leaving the gate.

“She’s not nervous at the gate. I think she was just ready to go,” Gyarmati said. “I give credit to the handler for hanging on and keeping her in the gate. I don’t think it affected her at all.”

There is plenty of time to decide which Breeders’ Cup race will best fit Sweet Reason. Last year, she finished fourth, beaten two lengths, in the BC Juvenile Fillies after making a strong move to contention into the stretch.

“We have two big options, and we’ll have to sit down and talk about it,” Gyarmati said. “It’s nice to have a distance decision like that to make. Part of it, I guess, will depend on who goes in each race.”