Unbridled Forever Rolls to First Grade I Win
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After knocking on the door of grade I company last year, Unbridled Forever finally broke through when making her second start of the season Aug. 29 in the $500,000 Ballerina Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga Race Course.
The 4-year-old daughter of Unbridled's Song is a homebred racing for Charles Fipke and trainer Dallas Stewart. She not only got her first grade I win, but also qualified for a spot in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (gr. I) at Keeneland this fall.
Unbridled Forever ran a sprint within a sprint, as her Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez sat patiently in the back of the eight-horse field through much of the seven-furlong event. Longshot Sarah Sis led the field through fractions of :23.10, :46.04, and 1:10.17, and looked to hold on turning for home, but an eighth of a mile from the wire, Unbridled Forever put in a dazzling kick and flew past.
"We broke the way we thought and we were behind the pack, worked our way through on the inside until we got to the quarter pole, and then I pulled her out and she responded," Velazquez said. "That's what she did the last time, and she did it back again today."
The winner hit the wire a length in front of Kiss to Remember. Room for Me finished third. The final time on a fast track was 1:22.54.
The Ballerina was the second win of the day so far for Fipke, who won a maiden special weight in the fourth race with Tale of S'avall, a colt by Fipke's homebred Tale of Ekati out of the Awesome Again mare S'Avall. The stakes win was Velazquez' third victory of the day, having won a maiden special weight on Ready Dancer in the second race and another maiden special weight with Vigilante in the fifth race.
"This is special," said Stewart, who trained Unbridled Forever's dam, Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) winner Lemons Forever. "I sold (Fipke) Lemons Forever and he bred this filly. She's a great horse. It's a grade I, and he owns the mare and a lot of the family, so it's big. He's done a great job breeding her, and she's got more in the pipeline."
Unbridled Forever was the first stakes winner for Lemons Forever out of five foals of racing age. The mare has a Fipke-bred 2-year-old this year named Forever d'Oro, by Medaglia d'Oro , who has not made his first start, but has been working at Churchill Downs. The colt's last work was Aug. 29 when he went five furlongs in 1:00 1/5. Lemons Forever also delivered another Medaglia d'Oro colt earlier this year.
Unbridled Forever paid $8.20, $4.40, and $2.90. Kiss to Remember paid $9.60 and $5.60, and Room for Me paid $4.70. The $2 exacta paid $75.50 and the $2 trifecta paid $361.50.