Breeders’ Cup Day 1: Untapable and pregnant Napravnik win Distaff

As if riding the favorite Untapable to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff wasn’t enough, jockey Rosie Napravnik made even more news Friday: Napravnik will stop racing after Sunday because she’s pregnant.

Napravnik, 26, first made the announcement while being interviewed in the winner’s circle after Untapable won the Distaff by 1 1/4 lengths over Don’t Tell Sophia and third-place Iotapa, who were in a photo finish for second.

In a later meeting with reporters, Napravnik said her break from racing was “indefinite.”

“I’m not thinking about a comeback in 10 months, but I can’t promise to stay off a horse forever,” she said. “[I] couldn’t think of a better way to go out.”

Trained by Steve Asmussen, Untapable went off at 3-2 odds and was running a comfortable fifth as the horses raced down the backstretch.

As they worked through the fourth turn, Untapable surged to the front and never relinquished the lead as the field came down the stretch. Untapable paid $5.20 to win.

“Down the backside I could not have had more confidence” in Untapable, Napravnik said. “She was just very powerful underneath me and she started to take me when she was ready to move.”

Close Hatches, which went off at 3-1 odds and was ridden by Joel Rosario, finished last in the 11-horse race.

Untapable became the race’s favorite after Beholder, which won last year’s Distaff, was scratched two weeks ago because of a fever.

The Distaff for fillies and mares three years old and up was the highlight of four races on the first day of the two-day Breeders’ Cup. There will be nine additional races Saturday, capped by the $5-million Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Lady Eli wins Juvenile Fillies Turf

Irad Ortiz Jr. rode Lady Eli to victory in the $1-million Juvenile Fillies Turf race Friday in the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita Park.

Trained by Chad Brown, Lady Eli broke from the pack coming down the stretch and won by 2 3/4 lengths over the other favorite in the race, Sunset Glow, ridden by Victor Espinoza.

Irish horse Osaila with Frankie Dettori aboard finished third in the one-mile race for 2-year-old fillies on the turf.

“I got a perfect trip,” Ortiz said. “My filly broke good and I got a nice spot down inside, and then I broke through the hole when [Sunset Glow] came out” of the pack, he said.

Sivoliere, an Irish horse ridden by Gary Stevens, finished fifth. It was the first race for Stevens since the 51-year-old Hall of Fame jockey had knee-replacement surgery on his right leg three months ago.

Just as the horses were about to enter the starting gate, Lady Zuzu, a horse trained by Wayne Lukas, was scratched after it was discovered her right hind limb had a laceration.

Goldencents wins the Dirt Mile

The favorite Goldencents won the $1-million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile for the second consecutive year Friday at Santa Anita Park.

Goldencents, with jockey Rafael Bejarano aboard just as he was a year ago, won by one length over Tapiture, ridden by Rosie Napravnik. Pants on Fire with Paco Lopez aboard was third.

Tapiture tried to catch Goldencents after the two horses broke away from the field down the stretch, but Goldencents -- which went off at 4-5 odds -- refused to be caught.

“When the other horse started to come to me, I held onto [Goldencents] just a little bit before I turned him loose,” Bejarano said. “When I turned him loose, he fired big.”

The trainer of Goldencents is Leandro Mora, longtime assistant to noted trainer Doug O’Neill, who is currently serving a Breeders’ Cup suspension.

The suspension followed the discovery of a drug called Oxazepam in a horse named Wind of Bosphorus at Belmont Park in June 2013.

“Unbelievable,” O’Neill said in a text to a reporter after Goldencents’ win Friday. “What a horse.”

Mora said that “when I saw Tapiture coming, I started to sweat. But Goldenscents kept trying and I started to relax. He wasn’t going to let anyone beat him today.”

Hootenanny wins Juvenile Turf

Hootenanny with Frankie Dettori aboard won the first race of this year’s Breeders’ Cup, the $1-million Juvenile Turf.

Hootenanny finished three-quarters of a length ahead of Luck of the Kitten, while Daddy DT finished third in the one-mile race for 2-year-olds on the turf.

Mike Smith, who has the most Breeders’ Cup wins for a jockey with 20, rode Luck of the Kitten to an early lead of four lengths over Hootenanny, with the rest of the field strung out behind them.

But the 14-horse field had closed by the time they exited the fourth turn with Luck of the Kitten still leading on the rail. Dettori and Hootenanny then ran them down in the stretch.

“When I turned him on, I knew I had the race,” Dettori said.

Smith, in turn, said, “I thought I was going to steal” the race. “The other horse overpowered me but my horse showed a lot of heart,” Smith said.

Both Hootenanny and Luck of the Kitten were trained by Wesley Ward. Hootenanny paid $14 to win, $7.80 to place and $5.60 to show.

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The two-day Breeders’ Cup, one of the premier events in horse racing, with $26 million in combined purses and awards, was set to open Friday afternoon with four races at Santa Anita Park.

With temperatures in the low 70s and cloudy skies in Arcadia, the races scheduled Friday were the Juvenile Turf, the Dirt Mile, the Juvenile Fillies Turf and the headliner race of the day, the $2-million Breeders’ Cup Distaff for fillies and mares.

The favorite in the 11-horse Distaff was Untapable, ridden by Rosie Napravnik, at 5-2 morning odds.

The Breeders’ Cup continues Saturday with nine races at Santa Anita, capped by the $5-million Breeders’ Cup Classic.