Forever Unbridled, a full sister to this term's GI Ballerina S. winner Unbridled Forever, earned her first graded stakes victory with a gritty score in Aqueduct's GIII Comely S. Sitting pretty in a two-wide third off early splits of :24.04 and :49.47, the bay was inched forward by Hall of Famer John Velazquez to take on favored Carrumba turning for home. Drawing even with that rival at the top of the stretch, the pair battled stride-for-stride to the wire with Forever Unbridled getting her nose in front just in the nick of the time.
“She has been a solid horse all year; ran second and third to I'm a Chatterbox a few times,” said winning conditioner Dallas Stewart. “We gave her a break after the [Kentucky] Oaks and she'd been training great. She came up there ready to run. There are a lot of Grade I's next year and at Saratoga and I think she's capable if we handle it right.”
Forever Unbridled spent the winter chasing eventual GI Cotillion S. heroine I'm a Chatterbox (Munnings) at the Fair Grounds, following her second-out graduation there Dec. 12 with a runner-up effort behind that rival in the Silverbulletday S. Jan. 17. Third to that versatile chestnut in both the GIII Rachel Alexandra S. Feb. 21 and the GII Fair Grounds Oaks Mar. 28, Forever Unbridled was a non-factor 11th in the GI Kentucky Oaks May 1 and was subsequently shelved. The bay returned with a fifth-place effort in the GII Raven Run S. at Keeneland last time Oct. 17.
The winner's dam Lemons Forever, who was trained and owned by Stewart in partnership with Horton Stable, captured the 2006 GI Kentucky Oaks at odds of 47-1. Sold for $2.5 million at the 2007 Keeneland November sale, the 12-year-old mare has since produced an unraced juvenile colt named Forever d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro) and a weanling colt by Medaglia d'Oro. She was bred back to that sire. Forever Unbridled's year older full sister and fellow Stewart trainee Unbridled Forever spent most of last year chasing champion Untapable (Tapit) and was successfully reinvented as a sprinted this year. She ran down last term's runaway GII Prioress S. winner Stonetastic (Mizzen Mast) to capture her seasonal bow in Saratoga's Shine Again S. and employed similar tactics under Velazquez to capture her first win at the highest level in the Ballerina there seen Aug. 29 before being forced to miss an intended start in the GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint due to a minor injury.
Saturday, Aqueduct
COMELY S.-GIII, $300,000, AQU, 11-28, 3yo, f, 1 1/8m, 1:50.75, ft.
1–#@FOREVER UNBRIDLED, 114, f, 3, by Unbridled's Song
1st Dam: Lemons Forever (GISW, $648,940), by Lemon Drop Kid
2nd Dam: Critikola (Arg), by Tough Critic
3rd Dam: Hola Keats (Arg), by Keats
O/B-Charles Fipke (KY); T-Dallas Stewart; J-John R. Velazquez.
$180,000. Lifetime Record: 8-2-2-2, $311,600. *Full to
Unbridled Forever, GISW, $805,257. Werk Nick Rating: C.
Click for eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.[bullet ad=”cecil-seaman-biomechanical-mating-recommendation”][bullet ad=”mckathan-brothers-training-grad”][bullet ad=”kbif-g2g3″]
2–Carrumba, 114, f, 3, Bernardini">Bernardini–Castanet, by El Prado (Ire).
O/B-Phipps Stable (KY); T-Claude R. McGaughey III. $60,000.
3–Wonder Gal, 120, f, 3, Tiz Wonderful–Passe, by Dixie Union.
'TDN Rising Star' ($210,000 2yo '14 OBSMAR). O-Treadway
Racing Stable; B-Apache Farm LLC (NY); T-Leah Gyarmati $30,000.[bullet ad=”nytb-3000″][bullet ad=”eqb-cardioclient”]
Margins: HD, 7HF, 3. Odds: 4.70, 2.05, 2.95.
Also Ran: Stroke Play, Peace and War, Fast Retailing, Temper Mint Patty, Jc's Shooting Star, Pangburn, Curlish Figure.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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