Untapable will skip Acorn in favor of Mother Goose

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Kentucky Oaks winner Untapable will not race in the Acorn Stakes on the huge Belmont Stakes undercard June 7 and will wait instead for the next Grade 1 race at Belmont Park in the 3-year-old filly division, the Mother Goose Stakes on June 28, trainer Steve Asmussen confirmed Friday.

Untapable, the clear-cut leader of the division, is scheduled to breeze Monday at Churchill Downs, marking her first work since her 4 1/2-length triumph in the Oaks on May 2. Asmussen said he is looking to take his time with the Tapit filly, who has been galloping on a regular basis at Churchill.

The $750,000 Acorn is part of an incredible Belmont undercard that will include nine graded races, six of them Grade 1 events. The Acorn goes at one mile, while the $300,000 Mother Goose is run at 1 1/16 miles. Both are one-turn races.

Among those likely for the Acorn are the second- and third-place Oaks finishers, My Miss Sophia and Unbridled Forever, as well as Fiftyshadesofgold, the winner of the Eight Belles Stakes on the Oaks undercard.

Bred and owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds, Untapable was an even-money favorite in the Oaks on the strength of romping victories in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes and Fair Grounds Oaks in New Orleans this winter.

Never Tell Lynda euthanized

An equine tragedy struck Churchill even before the nine-race program began Thursday when a 5-year-old mare named Never Tell Lynda died in a freak accident on the racetrack while being walked to the paddock for a schooling session prior to the first race.

According to trainer Kenny Wirth, the mare suddenly spooked from a loud sound coming from an infield speaker, reared up, and landed on her head, crushing her skull. The mare was euthanized immediately after veterinarians arrived on the scene shortly thereafter.

Wirth blamed the inordinately and unnecessarily loud volume of the Churchill sound system for the incident. Churchill management issued a statement in the aftermath that ended with: “The health and safety of our human and equine athletes remains our highest priority.”

Never Tell Lynda, owned by David Bush, won once in nine starts.

Delaunay to Aristides

Trainer Tom Amoss said Delaunay likely will make his next start in the Grade 3, $100,000 Aristides, a six-furlong race next Saturday, May 31, at Churchill. The 7-year-old gelding, an earner of $917,593, breezed four furlongs Thursday, his first work since finishing fifth in the May 3 Churchill Downs Stakes.

Amoss said he has no particular spots in mind for three other stable stars: Mylute, who worked Wednesday for the second time since finishing fourth in the May 2 Alysheba; Rise Up, who worked Thursday for the fourth time since he won the April 19 Hilton Memorial at Charles Town by 10 3/4 lengths; and Ria Antonia, who finished last in the Preakness last weekend.

◗ While Churchill continues to be plagued by short fields, with strong competition for horses from other regional tracks being a major component in that equation, there is this potentially helpful spot of news: Turf racing at Indiana Grand has been indefinitely delayed, with one by-product being that more grass horses will race here through the end of the spring meet June 29.

Although as of Friday racing officials at Indiana Grand had not released a statement on the status of its turf course nor informed its horsemen as to how long it expects the turf to go unused, one source said it could be early July.

◗ Thursday at Churchill was a productive day for horses who raced this winter at Oaklawn Park in general and for trainer Steve Hobby in particular. Five winners from the last eight races – the first race was for 2-year-old first-time starters – raced at Oaklawn this winter, including back-to-back Hobby winners, Brown Eyed Mary ($6.20) in race 5 and Doubly Distinct ($8.20) in race 6. The others were Divine Thunder ($6.40) in race 4, Rooster Cruiser ($5.60) in race 7, and Saturday Launch ($22.20) in race 9.

◗ Veteran jockey Stewart Elliott will move his tack to Del Mar shortly after the Churchill spring meet ends, agent Nelson Arroyo said this week. Elliott, 49, finished second in the standings at Keeneland in April in his first full meet in Kentucky. He was the focus of the international racing world 10 years ago as the jockey of Smarty Jones, who was unbeaten and awaiting the Belmont Stakes following a record-setting performance in the Preakness.