Cotillion for the Championship
Not to be outdone by the return of California Chrome on the same card, the Cotillion takes a backseat to no race. Simply put, the million dollar showdown Saturday at Parx is the best field of three-year-old fillies assembled in 2014, bar none. The current queen of the division is Untapable, and she is the one to beat in an absolute loaded field of nine set to compete in the 1 1/16th mile affair in suburban Pennsylvania. Not surprisingly ... this one could be for the championship.
Untapable dominated her division with precision and authority in four consecutive graded stakes to begin 2014. Powerful wins down in New Orleans in the Rachel Alexandra and the Fair Grounds Oaks made Untapable the filly to beat when she ventured to Louisville for the prestigious Kentucky Oaks on May 2. The major test turned out to be little more than a walk in the park for the impressive daughter of Tapit, though. The 4 ½ length victory in the Grade 1 was huge, but her next effort, also of the Grade 1 variety, was even easier. A 9 ¼ length victory in the Mother Goose at the end of June was enough cause for her connections to test the boys next out in the Grade 1 Haskell. She could not handle Bayern that day, but now back against her own gender at Parx, Untapable is the one they will all have to beat.
The Cotillion is far from a one horse race, though. As good as Untapable has been this year, a second straight loss could put her chance for a year-end championship in serious jeopardy. A pair of fillies who both enter Saturday’s showdown off consecutive Grade 1 scores would put themselves in great position for an Eclipse Award, by knocking off Untapable in the Grade 1 test.
The career of Sweet Reason is at a crossroads. A Grade 1 winner as a juvenile, the Leah Gyarmati stretch runner has tried two-turns against top competition twice before without much success. Since then, though, she has confirmed her overall class while dropping back to one-turn racing. The Grade 1 Test and the Grade 1 Acorn are important and historic races for sophomore fillies, and Sweet Reason was best in both. First at Belmont, and then at Saratoga, the daughter of Street Sense proved to be one of the best in her division with measured rallying victories. The extra distance of the Cotillion is not a big jump up from the mile, and the seven furlongs, of her last two wins, but whether she can defeat the best at two-turns is a question that needs to be answered.
There are also questions for the 7-2 second choice on the morning line. It should be noted that Stopchargingmaria was not ready for prime time when 5th and 4th in a pair of graded stakes to begin the year, but has come back smartly with consecutive victories in the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan, Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks, and Grade 1 Alabama. Generally speaking, winning a trio of prestigious stakes like that would vault you to the top of your division, but the competition found in each of those is not what she will find on Saturday at Parx. Much like Sweet Reason, though, if she can step up and add a fourth big win to her streak, she would likely surpass Untapable as the current leader among three-year-old fillies.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before … the Cotillion is far from a three horse race. Yes, it gets even better. Cassatt is a very exciting young filly for Fox Hill Farm, the same owner that scored in a memorable 2010 edition of the Cotillion with Havre de Grace. The Grey daughter of Tapit looked like any kind when easily breaking her maiden in her second start at Fair Grounds in January. She needed to be on the shelf for several months after a physical setback, but has been very strong in two races since her return this summer. A fast romp in a Delaware Park allowance sprint reaffirmed her potential, but when she soon after stretched out to air in the Grade 3 Monmouth Oaks, it was apparent that she could indeed be the genuine article. As has been the case all summer, Cassatt is working very well for trainer Larry Jones, and appears to be coming into her first major test in fine fettle.
The rest of this Cotillion field may have longer odds at post time, but disregard this fine bunch at your own peril. Jojo Warrior, a former Future Star on these pages, has really put things together of late. After a little inconsistency, while not getting the best of trips in a trio of sprint stakes, the daughter of Pioneerof the Nile returned to California and has used her natural speed to score in a pair of two-turn stakes at Santa Anita and Del Mar. House Rules has long been a filly in which I’ve expected big things. She has yet to connect in a stakes race, but came close at Gulfstream, was unlucky in two runs at Belmont, and is coming off a confidence building win at Saratoga. Joint Return was my long shot pick in the Grade 1 Alabama, and ran a good race to finish second. This spot might not fit her quite as well, but the three-time stakes winner is consistent and persistent. Little Alexis has only run three times in her career, but is already a stakes winner, and finished full or run last time when beaten only one length by Sweet Reason in the Grade 1 Test. Vero Amore is the only filly who gets no love from me in this spot, but I guess someone had to be the ninth choice in a loaded nine-filly Cotillion field.