Unbridled (March 5, 1987 – October 18, 2001) was a champion AmericanThoroughbredracehorse who won the 1990Kentucky Derby andBreeders' Cup Classic.

He retired with a career record of eight wins, six places, and six shows in 24 starts, and $4,489,475 in career earnings. Unbridled had a rivalry withSummer Squall over their three and four-year-old seasons. Summer Squall defeated Unbridled in four of their six meetings.^[2]

Unbridled was a bay horse with a broad whiteblaze bred in Florida byTartan Stable

He was sired byFappiano (10 wins in 17 starts), byMr. Prospector, and his dam was Gana Facil, by Le Fabuleux. Gana Facil was descended from Magic, a half-sister to both thechampion sprinterTa Wee andDr Fager.^[3]

In 1987, Trainer Tony Barnard was given charge of and broke Unbridled, at Tartan Farms, in Ocala, Florida.^[4][5] In 1989, at age two, Unbridled won the What A Pleasure Stakes and placed in all six of his starts. At age three, ridden by jockeyPat Day, he won theGrade IFlorida Derby by four lengths, then finished second behind Summer Squall in theBlue Grass Stakes. He then won America's most prestigious race, theKentucky Derby, by 3½ lengths with jockeyCraig Perret, while Summer Squall finishing second. He finished second in thePreakness Stakes to Summer Squall, and finished fourth withoutLasix in theBelmont Stakes to theIrish coltGo And Go. In the fall, ridden by Day, Unbridled won the 1¼ mileBreeders' Cup Classic atBelmont Park in 2:02.20 minutes. His performances for the year earned him the prestigiousEclipse Award as champion three-year-old male of 1990.

When Unbridled won the Derby, a network television camera in theChurchill Downs stands captured his trainer,Carl Nafzger, giving the horse's elderly owner,Frances Genter, a stretch call because of her poor vision. Nafzger shouted, "He's going to win! He's going to win! Oh, Mrs. Genter, I love you!"

Racing as a four-year-old, Unbridled won theDeputy Minister Handicap atGulfstream Park and placed second behind Summer Squall in theFayette Handicap atKeeneland Race Course. Unbridled lost four of six meetings with rival Summer Squall.

Unbridled sired 292 runners that produced 183 winners (38 of those stakes winners) out of 437 foals, earning over $31 million by 2000. Ten of his offspring were Grade I stakes winners, four were classic winners, and three received Eclipse Awards. Unbridled is the last Kentucky Derby winner to sire another Derby winner:Grindstone, that won the Kentucky Derby in 1996.

Unbridled is also the last stallion to have sired at least one winner in each of the AmericanTriple Crown races (first for each listed): Grindstone, Kentucky Derby, 1996;Red Bullet, Preakness Stakes, 2000; andEmpire Maker, Belmont Stakes, 2003.

Some of Unbridled's other offspring include:

• Colts/Horses:Unbridled's Song, Eddington,Anees, Unshaded, Saarland, Mustanfar, Symphony Sid, Rebridled, Malabar Gold, Unbridled Jet, Unbridled's Image, Niigon, Greed is Good, Wheelaway, Unrestricted, Broken Vow, Pupil, and Uncoupled.
• Fillies/Mares:Banshee Breeze,Halfbridled, Exogenous, Santa Catarina, Surya, Lady Ballade, Happily Unbridled, Boom Town Girl, Unrestrained,Manistique, and Belterra.

Unbridled was grandsire through Unbridled's Song of the fillyEight Belles, who finished second at the2008 Kentucky Derby but broke both frontpasterns at the finish and was euthanized on the track, and of the coltArrogate, who won the2016 Breeders' Cup Classic and placed first in theWorld's Best Racehorse Rankings for that year. By his daughter Oatsee, he was also the broodmare sire ofShackleford, winner of the2011 Preakness Stakes.

One of Grindstone's foals,Birdstone, upsetSmarty Jones to win the 2004 Belmont Stakes. Birdstone, in turn, siredMine That Bird, a gelding that won the2009 Kentucky Derby, andSummer Bird, a colt that won the2009 Belmont Stakes. Empire Maker, which won the2003 Belmont Stakes, siredPioneerof the Nile, who placed behind his cousin Mine That Bird in the 2009 Kentucky Derby, and eventually siredAmerican Pharoah, the first-ever winner of theGrand Slam of Thoroughbred racing in 2015. American Pharoah gave Unbridled the honour of four generations of Triple Crown race winners.

In September 2001, Unbridled underwent two operations at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute, nearLexington, Kentucky, to be treated for intestinal issues. He underwent his first surgery on September 21, where three feet of his intestine was removed. Five days removed from the first surgery, he suffered a setback, and underwent a second surgery on September 26. Unbridled recovered again and was sent home to Claiborne Farm on October 8. On October 19, 2001, at 6:00 PM, Unbridled waseuthanized at the clinic after a severe bout ofcolic, with his condition being deemed inoperable.^[6]

Unbridled was laid to rest at Claiborne Farm.^[7]

• List of racehorses

• 1987 racehorse births
• 2001 racehorse deaths
• Racehorses bred in Florida
• Racehorses trained in the United States
• Kentucky Derby winners
• Breeders' Cup Classic winners
• Eclipse Award winners
• United States Champion Thoroughbred Sires
• Thoroughbred family 1-r
• Chefs-de-Race

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