Unbridled Forever Solid in Silverbulletday
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Unbridled Forever ran like her mother Jan. 18 at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, taking down Divine Beauty with a solid performance in the $125,000 Silverbulletday Stakes .
The 3-year-old daughter of 2006 Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) winner Lemons Forever and the late top stallion Unbridled's Song put away her rival inside the final sixteenth of the mile and 70-yard test, edging off to win by 1 1/2 lengths in 1:43.03 on a fast track. The even-money favorite in the field of five is trained by Dallas Stewart, who conditioned Lemons Forever as well, for owner/breeder Charles Fipke.
"She is a phenomenal filly," jockey Robby Albarado said. "She's got a lot of buttons to her. Dallas has been very high on her from the start. I've never gotten on her in the mornings, only in the three races. She's been exceptional every race. I'd like to congratulate Mr. Fipke. He's done a lot for racing and deserves one like this. I don't feel like we know the depth of her yet."
Unbridled Forever made her stakes debut off a Nov. 30 maiden score at Churchill Downs, when she won by 5 1/4 lengths going seven furlongs. Early on in the Silverbulletday, she raced four wide in fourth behind a pace set by Divine Beauty, her main rival.
Divine Beauty went straight to the front and set the pace through solid fractions of :23.75 and :47.87 under Rosie Napravnik, but lost the lead in her first try around two turns after posting three-quarters in 1:12.82.
"She showed a lot of heart and that was a great try for the first time around two turns," Napravnik said.
But it was Unbridled Forever, charging hard under Albarado, who powered three-wide off the turn to gain the advantage for a mile in 1:38.76, then proved best under good handling. After Divine Beauty came Express Model, Army, and Istanford. Awesome Jill scratched.
Unbridled Forever paid $4, $2.40, and $2.10 while Divine Beauty brought $2.20 and $2.10, with Express Model returning $3.
Bred in Kentucky, Unbridled Forever has won two of three starts, with earnings of $100,830. Fipke purchased her dam, who raced for Willis Horton and Stewart, for $2.5 million at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale in 2007.
"She's got a great pedigree," Stewart said. "We just are taking our time with her. We picked this race off and we will see where we go from there. (Albarado) gave her a great ride. In the first turn, he opted to switch her outside which I thought was a great move on his part and all she had to do was run home from there."