Unbridled's Song

Unbridled's Song
Sire	Unbridled
Grandsire	Fappiano
Dam	Trolley Song
Damsire	Caro
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1993
Country	United States
Colour	Gray
Breeder	Mandysland Farm
Owner	Paraneck Stable
Trainer	James T. Ryerson
Record	12: 5-4-0
Earnings	$1,311,800
Major wins
Breeders' Cup Juvenile (1995) Florida Derby (1996) Wood Memorial (1996) Olympic Handicap (1997)
Horse (Equus ferus caballus)
Last updated on August 22, 2007

Unbridled's Song (foaled 1993 in Kentucky) is an American thoroughbred stallion racehorse. He was sired by 1990 Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled out of the Caro mare, Trolley Song.

As a two year old, Unbridled's Song may be most noted for his near record time in the 1995 Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Trained by James T. Ryerson and ridden by Mike E. Smith, it was only his third time on the racetrack as he battled Hennessy down the stretch for a time of 1:41:60.

The next spring, after placing second in the Peter Pan Stakes and the Fountain of Youth Stakes, he beat the 1996 U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt Skip Away, along with Louis Quatorze and Editor's Note in the Florida Derby.

Then, a couple of weeks before the Kentucky Derby, he won the Wood Memorial, but in doing so, he hit himself in the left forefoot, causing a "quarter crack", or cracked hoof, requiring a special bar shoe and acrylic patch.

He was the favorite for the 1996 Kentucky Derby but placed a troubled fifth behind Grindstone. The forefoot injury from the Wood Memorial kept him out of the rest of the Triple Crown races.

Lightly raced at four, he won the Olympic Handicap.

Retirement

Unbridled's Song was retired to stud in 1997. He has become one of the most successful sires in America and abroad, with Grade I winners and $1 million winners. He currently stands at Taylor Made Farms and his 2010 fee is $100,000 live foal.

Some of his most famous offspring are graded stakes race winners Octave, Splendid Blended, Breeders' Cup Distaff winners Unbridled Elaine and Unrivaled Belle, Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Midshipman, Domestic Dispute, Grey Song, Alexander, Political Force, Eurosilver, Eight Belles, Old Fashioned, Buddha, Songandaprayer and Dunkirk, who has not won a graded stakes but finished second in the Belmont in 2009.

Soundness Issues

The breakdown of Eight Belles following the 2008 Kentucky Derby focused attention on the soundness record of Unbridled's Song's offspring. The stallion has developed an industry reputation for producing speed, precocity, and fragility. Over his career, Unbridled's Song has averaged 66% starters of racing age, compared to a national average of around 70% , causing his detractors to suggest that many of his offspring are injured before they even make it to post. All three of his sons on the 2009 Triple Crown trail have been sidelined with injuries. Midshipman suffered an unspecified soft tissue injury during a workout in February and has not started as a three-year-old. Old Fashioned, another early Derby favorite, was retired after suffering a non-displaced slab fracture of his right knee , leaving only Dunkirk to make the Derby starting gate. Dunkirk contested the Derby and Belmont, but suffered a non-displaced condylar fracture of the left hind cannon bone during the race. He will undergo surgery and is expected to return to the track in the fall. Another colt by Unbridled's Song, Winslow Homer, is off the 2010 Kentucky Derby trail due to a stress fracture in his cannon bone.

References

• Pedigree & Partial Stats
• TB Times Stallion Directory Unbridled's Song