Horse of the Week: Untapable

Posted on by DerbyMateo

Just a few years ago the Cotillion Stakes and Pennsylvania Derby were just two of several fall options for the three-year-old set. But Pennsylvania casino revenue has transformed the stakes schedule at Parx Racing (formerly Philadelphia Park) and on the east coast in general. Now these races are attracting the cream of the crop of the sophmore filly and colt divisions annually. The Cotillion, in particular, has graduated to Grade 1 status and was won by yet another Kentucky Oaks winner this year in Untapable.

A daughter of the red-hot sire Tapit, Untapable has been the consensus leader of the three-year-old fillies ever since her dominating performance in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes (G3) in late February. She had been compared to that race’s namesake after ulta-easy scores in the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2), Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Mother Goose Stakes (G1). However, unlike Rachel, she couldn’t beat the boys when sent to Monmouth Park for the Haskell Invitational (G1) in July.

The streaking multiple Grade 1 winner Stopchargingmaria was originally entered in the Cotillion but was re-routed to Saturday’s Beldame Stakes (G1) by trainer Todd Pletcher after the retirement of Princess of Sylmar. Some suggested Stopchargingmaria could overtake Untapable for year-end honors with a Cotillion victory but that seems unlikely now. Untapable may not have been brilliant last Saturday at Parx but she was professional in defeating fellow Grade 1 winner Sweet Reason and the up-and-coming Jojo Warrior.

Untapable joins Ashado and Plum Pretty as Oaks/Cotillion winners in the past 10 years. The Cotillion has also been won by champions Havre de Grace and My Miss Aurelia in that time span as well as likely 2014 champion Close Hatches, last year’s winner. No wonder the race chased NYRA’s Gazelle Stakes from the September schedule. That former Grade 1 fixture for three-year-old fillies was moved to Thanksgiving weekend in 2009 and has served as a Aqueduct’s Kentucky Oaks prep for the past two seasons.

Untapable is scheduled to face her elders, including Close Hatches and Beholder, in the upcoming Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1). A win there would sew up championship honors and maybe, just maybe, put Untapable back in the conversation as one the all-time greats.

-originally published on http://www.myfantasystable.com

The Mid-Year Awards

Posted on by DerbyMateo

We’re halfway through 2014 so it’s time for the Mid-Year Awards:

Older Male

Two-time defending Eclipse Award Horse of the Year Wise Dan earned a pair of Grade 1 victories in Kentucky this spring before his scary bout with colic. However, we’ll give this one to Palace Malice who has four graded wins this year by a combined 16 1/2 lengths. He overcome some trouble to conquer a stellar field in the Met Mile on Belmont Stakes Day and that win puts him over the top.

Older Female

The Belmont Stakes undercard had a very Breeders’ Cup feel to it and the Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1) essentially decided the Mid-Year Award in this division. Close Hatches fended off Princess of Sylmar with Eclipse Champion Beholder back in fourth. The First Defence filly is unbeaten in three starts this year, including another Grade 1 tally in the Apple Blossom Stakes (G1) at Oaklawn Park.

3YO Male

Three Grade 1 wins, including the Derby and Preakness make California Chrome a no-brainer here. But…we’ve always thought Shared Belief was a superstar and these two could meet twice later this year in California. It’s been over 40 years since a dual Classic winner didn’t get the Eclipse Award for champion 3YO male, but…

3YO Female

Untapable, no other filly is close. No other filly is a threat to her the second half of the year.

Sprinter

This division is very much up in the air. 2014 Grade 1-winning sprinters like Dads Caps (Carter S.) and Declassify (Triple Bend S.) don’t have an additional graded win to back up their claims. Dads Caps was in the field when Clearly Now dominated the Belmont Sprint Championship (G2) on July 5. There have been an awful lot of good horses who have run 7 furlongs at Belmont Park over the years but the track record for the distance now belongs to Clearly Now. Let’s give nod to him. Honorable mention goes to the three-year-old Bayern who posted perhaps the most impressive sprint performance of the year in the Woody Stephens Stakes (G2) on Belmont Day.

Turf

Two Grade 1’s for champ Wise Dan in 2014 keeps him on top of this division.

Filly & Mare Turf

A slight nod to the much-improved Coffee Clique here. Although both at a mile, she does have Grade 2 and Grade 1 wins over strong fields this year.

Horse of the Year

Califorina Chrome’s three important Grade 1 wins are certainly formidable but it’s hard to go with him when I think Palace Malice is simply a better horse. Palace Malice is the pick while for Mid-Year Horse of the Year while we look ahead to an exciting second half of 2014!

(originally published on http://www.myfantasystable.com)

Horse of the Week: Jojo Warrior

Posted on by DerbyMateo

There’s no doubt that Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Untapable is the clear leader of the 3YOF division in North America. However, after her next start against fillies in the upcoming Mother Goose Stakes (G1) she may well take on the boys in the Haskell Invitational (G1) and/or Travers Stakes (G1). This would leave the door open for some other sophomore lasses to take down the summer Grade 1’s at Saratoga and Summertime Oaks (G2) winner Jojo Warrior is one of several nice fillies who could benefit from and absent Untapable.

Formerly known as the Hollywood Oaks, the Summertime Oaks was contested at 8.5F over the Santa Anita main track for the first time on Saturday, June 21. It was also the first two-turn race for the well-traveled Jojo Warrior. The Zayat Stables colorbearer made her first four starts from distances ranging from 5.5F to 7F at Del Mar, Oaklawn Park, Churchill Downs and Pimlico. She scored in her debut at Del Mar last September and picked up a couple of blacktype checks in Oaklawn Park’s Instant Racing Stakes and the Miss Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. Her only off-the-board finish was a fifth-place run in a deep edition of the Eight Belles Stakes (G3) on Kentucky Oaks Day.

Trainer Bob Baffert put blinkers back on Jojo Warrior for her two-turn debut which may have helped her focus and harness her natural speed. Under Martin Garcia, JoJo Warrior went right to the front after the break in the Summertime Oaks and there was no catching her from there. The final margin of victory was 5 1/4 lengths.

The filly is the fourth stakes winner from 94 first crop foals by Pioneerof the Nile, a multiple Grade 1 winner by Empire Maker, who too raced in the powder blue and yellow Zayat Stables silks. Jojo Warrior is also the fourth stakes winner out of the mare Carson Jen, who now has to be considered a major contender for Broodmare of the Year honors. She’s already the dam of Bernardini’s first North American Grade 1 winner, 2010 Frizette Stakes (G1) victress A Z Warrior. Also to her credit is the graded stakes-winning juvenile E Z Warrior (by Exploit) and the four-time listed winner J Z Warrior (Harlan’s Holiday).

Behind Jojo Warrior on Saturday were a couple of other well-bred fillies. Runner-up Live for Now is by Tiznow out of the mare Turko’s Turn, making her a half-sister to 2001 Horse of the Year Point Given. Third-place finisher Front Range is a daughter of three-time leading sire Giant’s Causeway out of the multiple Grade 1-winning Seattle Slew mare Lakeway. Lakeway, in fact, took the 1994 edition of Hollywood/Summertime Oaks when it was still rated a Grade 1.

Surprisingly, the Summertime Oaks is the last main track Graded stakes in Southern California for sophomore fillies. With this being the case we’ll likely see Jojo Warrior hit the road once again to Saratoga where Baffert will have the option of keeping her at two turns in races like the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) and Alabama Stakes (G1) or target Grade 1 sprints like the Prioress Stakes and Test Stakes. Much will likely depend on where Untapable ends up and Baffert and the Zayats are no doubt hoping that filly tries her mettle against the boy

Originally published on http://www.MyFantasyStable.com