Forever Unbridled Set for Toughest Test in World Cup

Chuck Fipke was so eager to see his beloved homebred mare he could hardly contain himself.

With a plastic grocery bag full of treats, he was itching to get to his champion, Forever Unbridled, as she made her way to the Meydan dirt track March 29—but trainer Dallas Stewart intervened.

"Hold on now. Just wait till she gets back to the barn," Stewart said with a wink.

But there was no stopping the septuagenarian owner. With the widest smile plastered on his face, Fipke strolled up to the bay mare as she moved up the chute to the dirt oval at Meydan, gave her a few affectionate pats on the head, and sent her off for her morning exercise.

As Forever Unbridled finished her gallop, Fipke reached into his bag and took off after the mare with a handful of carrots. Struggling to keep up and present the carrots at the same time, the determined owner tried to beat Forever Unbridled to the spot by running ahead, just to offer up his appreciation.

The daughter of Unbridled's Song didn't accept his offering, but Fipke's tenderness was unabated and out in the open for all to see, two days before the toughest challenge of her racing career in the $10 million Dubai World Cup Sponsored By Emirates Airline (G1) March 31.

"She's pretty nice. I mean, what can I say? I'm just lucky to have a horse like that," Fipke said. "I just love her."

As emotional as his response is when he sees Forever Unbridled, Fipke's decision to run the champion mare and four-time grade 1 winner against males for the first time was calculated—a matter of value and risk.

"The thing is, as a breeder, she beat Songbird in the Personal Ensign Stakes (G1), she won the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), and she's got a way better family," said the Canadian geologist, who made his fortune through prospecting. "People have said she's probably worth $15 million to $16 million, so why would you risk running her in a $1 million or $2 million group 1 race? Sure, you can insure them, but I don't want to break the horse down. It's not worth it to me to run her anymore.

"But you have the Dubai World Cup, another world championship, $10 million—that's enough to stop from making her a broodmare and take the risk."

With Stewart, whom he met after the sale of Forever Unbridled's dam, Lemons Forever, Fipke has found a willing partner. Fipke purchased the daughter of Lemon Drop Kid  and 2006 Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner for $2.5 million at the 2007 Keeneland November breeding stock sale, and Stewart, who trained and co-owned Lemons Forever, was one of the first to congratulate him on the purchase.

"He came over to me and shook my hand, and I decided right then I'd send him some horses," the owner said.

That decision to send Stewart horses, specifically two out of Lemons Forever, has paid off. First came Unbridled Forever, also by Unbridled's Song, who placed in the 2014 Longines Kentucky Oaks and won the 2015 Ballerina Stakes (G1), but her full sister has reached another level and now has the opportunity to be the first female to win the Dubai World Cup. Along with her grade 1 accomplishments, Forever Unbridled has placed in three other top-level events, won three more graded contests, and earned more than $3.1 million.

"Whenever we've talked about running against the boys, in here or the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1), I've told him, 'I think we should try,'" Stewart said. "To me, she fits for the race. I'm not a big numbers guy, so I couldn't tell you what the numbers are here and there, but I just think, as a racehorse, she's a fit for the race. She's showing up during training, and if I didn't think she was doing good, I wouldn't run her. I'd take her back home. She's done great here."

Each of Forever Unbridled's last seven victories—all in graded events—has come at a different racetrack. Once again, she's settled well into her new surroundings at Meydan.

"We're happy to be here, proud to be invited here, and hopefully she'll represent us well," Stewart said. "She's always represented us well, she's always dedicated to winning, and she takes it to the limit every time she goes. We're just hoping that will continue in Dubai.

"There's a lot of components that go into big races like this—new places—and she probably handles it as well as any I've been around."

Although Forever Unbridled is lightly raced—at the age of 6, she has 17 starts with just three in 2017 to earn her older dirt female championship—Stewart says she thrives training toward a race, and he didn't rest the mare much after her Nov. 3 Distaff score at Del Mar.

WINCZE HUGHES: Forever Unbridled Reigns in Breeders' Cup Distaff

"The harder we pushed her in New Orleans—she really didn't miss any time. A lot of people say, 'Well, she had a lot of time off.' But after the Breeders' Cup, we jogged her for a week or two, and she went right back to galloping," Stewart said. "Other than the track being frozen for a couple days (at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots), she hasn't missed any time for training. She wasn't working, but she was galloping like that every day—every day. If you give her one day off, she flips out. She's like, 'I want to be on that track.' So we took her to the track every day."

Stewart has expressed confidence in his mare's ability to take on the opposite sex throughout his time in Dubai, pointing to his experience with another quality female to enforce his point.

"She can compete with the boys, and I've been around a couple who have been able to," Stewart said. "I galloped Winning Colors. She beat the boys, didn't she?"

The reference to the Hall of Fame Thoroughbred, who won the Santa Anita Derby (G1) and Kentucky Derby (G1) in 1988, immediately brought a question of comparison from the assembled media.

But Stewart deflected with his New Orleans charm. That's a question he's not willing to answer.

"I mean, come on. That's like comparing your best girlfriends," he said with a grin.

The Dubai World Cup, on one of the grandest stages in the world, is supposed to be Forever Unbridled's swan song. Fipke has her scheduled to be bred to Medaglia d'Oro  after the race, but he's kept the door open on her racing career, even if it's ever so slight.

"If she doesn't catch, Dallas wants her to go against the males in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1)," Fipke said. "It's possible, if she doesn't catch. She's pretty attractive, though, so I'm sure 'Medag' is going to catch her.

"She's so gorgeous, I wanted her to parade around West Coast so he wouldn't concentrate on the race."