Admiral Dennis tops Gun Runner; eight stakes debutantes in Untapable

Dec 15, 2024 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Drexel Hill was subsequently second in another maiden to Aristella, who later captured the Princess Elizabeth S. Also, in her career debut, Drexel Hill closed for fifth to Winterberry and Foxtastic, who respectively went on to win the Glorious Song S. and Presque Isle Debutante.

Although those efforts came over the Tapeta, Drexel Hill should adapt to dirt as a daughter of Bolt d’Oro and a Daaher mare. Perhaps the distance is more of a question, considering that she profited by cutting back to seven furlongs to break her maiden last time out. A similar comment applies to Beckman’s other runner, Churchill debut winner Her Laugh, although she’s untested beyond six furlongs. Note that Her Laugh is cross-entered to the six-furlong Letellier Memorial.

Five contenders are proven around two turns. McPeek’s Golden Gamble, third to California Sunset on debut on “Stars of Tomorrow I,” came back to win another 1 1/16-mile maiden at Churchill by nine lengths. California Sunset, a Gary and Mary West homebred from the Cox barn, has not raced since her Oct. 27 maiden coup.

Amarth, the only two-time winner in the field, rolled in a Keeneland maiden before successfully stretching out in a Churchill allowance. By leading freshman sire McKinzie, the Eddie Kenneally pupil left Stable Currency back in third in that 1 1/16-mile test. Stable Currency has the most experience in routes, having crushed an off-the-turf maiden at Hawthorne by 22 lengths and just missing in a 1 1/16-mile Keeneland allowance prior to her effort at Churchill.

Prima Bella is the lone entrant with local form, thanks to her 1 1/16-mile maiden tally, albeit in slow time.

Trainer Brendan Walsh won the first two runnings of the Untapable, notably with future Kentucky Oaks (G1) champion Pretty Mischievous in 2022, and he’s back with another Godolphin homebred in Paris Lily. The City of Light filly was game to prevail in a maiden around Churchill’s one-turn mile, and she’ll need to move forward in this spot.