Unbridled Song, Fappiano Line Star in Oaks

By Lucas Marquardt 
Unbridled’s Song died last year at the age of 20, but his offspring–and those hailing from his sire line–are still making noise on the track. On Friday, the former Taylor Made stallion will be represented by two daughters and two granddaughters in the GI Kentucky Oaks. Another granddaughter, Fiftyshadesofgold (My Golden Song), was originally scheduled for the Oaks, but will start in Friday’s GIII Eight Belles S. instead. Here’s a quick rundown by post position: 
PP HORSE 
2 Ria Antonia (Rockport Harbor) Last year’s 
GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies upsetter is by one 
of Unbridled’s Song’s better juvenile males, a dual 
graded winner at two whose wins included the 
GII Remsen S. 
7 Fashion Plate (Old Fashioned) The GI Santa Anita Oaks and GI Las Virgenes S. heroine is by another GII Remsen S. winner by Unbridled’s Song 
9 Unbridled Forever (Unbridled’s Song) Will try to replicate her dam’s feat of upsetting the GI Kentucky Oaks 
11 My Miss Sophia (Unbridled’s Song) romped clear by 7 1/2 lengths in the GII Gazelle S. last out 
Unbridled’s Song was a juvenile champion from the first crop of the GI Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled, whose influence is seen all over the Oaks. In addition to those by Unbridled’s Song, Unbridled is represented on the tail-male pedigrees of granddaughters Rosalind (Broken Vow) and Empress of Midway (Empire Maker) and great-granddaughter Thank You Marylou (Birdstone). So over half the Oaks field is from the Unbridled line. 
If we take it another generation back to Unbridled’s sire Fappiano, we can include the GIII Fantasy S. winner Sugar Shock (Candy Ride {Arg}), giving the line over 60% of the field; and yet another generation back, to Mr. Prospector, adds inPlease Explain (Curlin) and Aurelia’s Belle (Lemon Drop Kid). 
“Fappiano is the key,” said the TDN’s pedigree expert Bill Oppenheim. “The fact is the Fappiano branch of Mr. Prospector–or the Fappiano sire line, which is probably a better categorization–is now the number-two sire line in North America, behind only A.P. Indy. Though it is mostly through Unbridled, there is an offshoot through Cryptoclearance. He’s by Fappiano, but always acted more like other Mr. Prospector’s, I felt, and is the sire of the otherwise insignificant Ride The Rails, sire of Candy Ride.” 
Oppenheim notes the less-obvious influence of Fappiano, too, in the Oaks and beyond. “The Oaks favorite Untapable is by Tapit, who is out of an Unbridled mare,” he said. “[Leading sire] War Front is out of a mare by Rubiano, by Unbridled’s sire, Fappiano. Bernardini is out of a mare by Quiet American, also by Fappiano.” 
If Unbridled’s Song figures heavily in the Oaks, so does the farm that stood him, Taylor Made. Unbridled’s Song literally grew up with the Taylor brothers. He was on the farm as a foal, and was actually up for sale privately at that point. “We had a chance to buy Unbridled’s Song as a weanling for around $65,000,” recalls Mark Taylor. “We didn’t do it; cash flow was a little tight at that point, and we just thought it was too much risk, being from the first crop of Unbridled.” 
They’d see plenty more of him, though. Unbridled’s Song sold at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga as a yearling, but returned to Taylor Made for some R ‘n’ R after the late bloodstock agent Buzz Chace bought him. And of course he’d return to Taylor Made after his racing days were through. 
Taylor Made was just as integral in Old Fashioned’s success. The farm foaled, raised and sold Old Fashioned for breeders Lorraine and Rod Rodriguez, and Taylor remembers his dam well. 
“Collect Call [Meadowlake] was a beautiful mare and we were really high on her,” he said. “She fit Unbridled’s Song like a glove. She’s was good-sized but wasn’t huge, and a nice square hip on her and had good bone.” 
Old Fashioned was purchased as a KEESEP yearling by Rick Porter for $800,000, and after a career that included a pair of graded wins, returned to the farm as a stallion. To help kick-start Old Fashioned’s stallion career, Porter aimed to showcase the young sire by pinhooking some of his better weanlings. He acquired a Taylor Made-raised and -consigned filly later named Fashion Plate for $75,000 at the 2011 Keeneland November Sale. Taylor thought Porter would easily double his money when they returned to September 10 months later, bad vet reports compromised her value. 
“We raised her on the farm, and she was a helluva filly,” he said. “She had a beautiful thin neck on her, a great shoulder, and a good hind leg. And her throat had always been perfect, but when we got to the sale, all the vets got off her. She was scoped nine times, which was a ton for the book we were in, but they said she got an ulcer and that her throat looked lazy. Anyway, she brought one bid over her reserve, and sold to Nick de Meric for $35,000. I don’t know who Nick’s vet is, but he made the right call.” 
De Meric scored big on Fashion Plate, selling her for $340,000 at OBS April last year. 
Taylor admits that Unbridled’s Song had a reputation for siring unsound horses, but thinks that tag is unfair. “I think what helped him in the twilight of his career is that people learned how to develop them. Like him, his offspring are very precocious, and they’re typically very big. And if you go too fast, too quick with them, that’s were you get the unsound stigma. But if you look at the numbers and stats, I don’t think it’s an unfair knock on the horse. In the early years, people couldn’t control themselves because they thought they had a freak of nature. Later, people learned to take their time as 2-year-olds.” 
Taylor said there is one common trait among Unbridled’s Song’s offspring: quality. “They might be average size, they might be big, they might be small, but they all have quality,” said Taylor. “They have that ‘wow’ factor, and people had a hard time walking away from them at the sales. On our ABC scale, if you looked at 20 yearlings by a sire, 3 would be A’s. There would be 12 B’s, and a few C’s. With him, over half of his were A’s.”