Untapable unchallenged in Mother Goose romp

ELMONT, N.Y. - There was an uncomfortable moment soon after the start of the Grade 1 Mother Goose at Belmont Park on Saturday when jockey John Velazquez had to take a hold of 1-20 favorite Untapable in tight quarters. But that incident was soon forgotten as Untapable righted herself, fell into a nice rhythm, and went on to dominate by 9 1/4 lengths, coasting home with her ears pricked.

Untapable will head to Saratoga to train on Monday, but her next start is not etched in stone. She could run back in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks on July 20, or she could step outside of her division and take on males in the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on July 27.

In post-race comments, Steve Asmussen said he and owner Ron Winchell were aware the Haskell was out there and that the timing of the race was "excellent."

Asmussen was particularly happy to see Untapable ship and run a representative race. He said that when he took her to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies last November at Santa Anita, he expected to win. Instead, Untapable ran the only poor race of her career and was eased, crossing the wire eighth.

Prior to the Mother Goose, all of Untapable's races this year had come over a track at which she was based. Her blowout wins in the Rachel Alexandra and Fair Grounds Oaks came at her winter home, and she had plenty of time to settle in at Churchill Downs prior to her tour de force in the Kentucky Oaks.

Untapable did all of her training for the Mother Goose at Churchill Downs before shipping to Belmont on Tuesday of race week.

"I was pleased she was able to stay quiet in the paddock today," Asmussen said. "Maturity, time, confidence -- all of those things helped her run her race," Asmussen said. "The ship-and-run obstacle is behind us."

Asmussen said he decided not to work Untapable over the Belmont track because he was afraid she would do too much. He also noted that she apeared to be looking around in the stretch today.

Soon after the start of the 1 1/16-mile Mother Goose, Princess Violet veered inward and herded Untapable into tight quarters. Velazquez checked her and got her into the the clear and everything went smoothly from there.

Untapable accelerated on the turn after front-running Princess Violet, who had set fractions of 23.30, 45.96, and 1:09.65, took the lead nearing the stretch, and then cruised home under mild encouragement. She covered a mile in 1:34.57 and completed the distance over a fast track in 1:41.48.

Princess Violet held second by a neck over America. House Rules, who was forced to check inside Untapable early, finished fourth and Aqua Regia, who broke in the air, finished fifth. Stopchargingmaria was an early scratch.

Untapable paid $2.10 to win and $2.10 to place. Show wagering was canceled by the New York Racing Association earlier in the week. Still, there was a minus place pool of $160,400 on the race. NYRA's share of the minus pool is $59,596.