Unbridled's Song

We know that the majority of stallions, in this day and age, get their biggest and best books precisely when we know least about their competence. But the other side of the same coin is that very few breeders stick around should a stallion fail to seize that first, fleeting opportunity. Just as well, then, that a historically underachieving group of rookies has got its act together with its maturing first crop, to the extent that four have managed to get a son into the GI Kentucky Derby gate. Collectively,...

Heading back to the rostrum from a break, Ryan Mahan was stopped by Wayne Lukas. "This filly coming up, three hips from now," the great trainer said. "I'm going to put my pen in my pocket. As long as it stays there, keep me in." "Wayne, please don't do this," Mahan replied. "This kind of thing--if my glasses are on, if I take my hat off--it just never works." But Lukas was insistent: that was what they were going to do. "So we get to $400,000," Mahan recalls, decades later....

The night of Oct. 29 is something everybody at the Taylor Made team is looking forward to. That's what happens when you are the consignor who will be selling a share in Not This Time at the Keeneland Championship Sale. After starting his stud career at $15,000, Not This Time now stands at Taylor Made for $250,000 and his book is already basically full for 2026, according to the farm. It's easy to see why. He had 14 horses sell for $1 million or more at the Keeneland September sale,...

The Fasig-Tipton November sale added another pair of supplements to the catalogue with Grade I star power to their families Monday, namely Streak of Luck (Old Fashioned), the dam of MGISW Ted Noffey (Into Mischief), and MSW Avana (Vino Rosso). The former, who is by a son of leading broodmare sire Unbridled's Song, will go through the ring as HIP 220 via the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment for Aaron and Marie Jones. She was purchased by said owners back in 2021 for $620,000 at the KEENOV sale. The 'TDN...

In approaching a Saturday that threatens to restore the Triple Crown viability of the American Thoroughbred-between Journalism (Curlin) here, and a son of Justify at Epsom-it feels timely to consider a horse often viewed as typifying the precarious compromise between size and speed, on the one hand, and soundness on the other. The double-edged reputation of Unbridled's Song traces right back to his own sales history. He was the perfect commercial model for a 2-year-old auction, so big and fast that the Barretts hammer fell at $1.4 million, back then...

Hall of Fame quarterback and an analyst on Fox's NFL broadcasts, Terry Bradshaw has bought into three 2-year-olds trained by Ken McPeek. McPeek said Bradshaw owns 20% of each. McPeek has also added another Fox broadcaster, Curt Menefee, to his roster of owners. Menefee has bought into one of the three horses owned by Bradshaw. The other owners in both horses will consist of partners in McPeek's Magdalena Racing Partnership. This won't be Bradshaw's first foray into Thoroughbred racing. He co-owned Mission Impazible (Unbridled's Song), who won the 2010 GII...

The much-missed Arrogate continues to add 'Saturday afternoon horses' to his tally with his final crop. Seize the Grey captured Saturday's GI Preakness S., giving Arrogate a second Classic winner in just three crops.  A Kentucky Oaks winner in his first crop. A Belmont and Travers winner in his second. A Preakness winner in his third. Three additional Grade I winners, two of them at age two. Like a streaking star, Arrogate's racing career blazed brilliantly--leaving all who witnessed it in awe--and now his all-too-brief stud career is doing the...

Celebrating 40 Years of the Breeders' Cup Can you imagine being a horse racing-crazy kid with a ringside seat to the creation of the Breeders' Cup? Mark Taylor can, because he was. Fast forward more than four decades and now he is president and CEO of the Central Kentucky farm that is believed to have raised and/or sold more Breeders' Cup winners than any other. There's also the matter of having stood the Breeders' Cup winner who currently holds the record for siring the most Breeders' Cup winners in turn....

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Co-owner and co-breeder Steve Coburn was a quotable presence during California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit)'s fine career and delivered again Friday when the California-bred was inducted into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame. Champions California Chrome, Arrogate (Unbridled's Song) and Songbird (Medaglia d'Oro), all in their first year of eligibility, joined jockey Corey Nakatani in the contemporary class of 2023. Fernando Toro was selected by the Historic Review Committee. Three people--the late John Hanes II, the late Leonard Jerome and Stella F. Thayer--were inducted as...

  When Saint Ballado came to the farm, Duncan Taylor recalls Les Brinsfield telling him to try Mari's Book mares. "Mari's Book!" he exclaims now. "It's not like there were Mari's Book mares all around, out there in the population. But Les was a smart guy, very analytical." And it was easy to see the logic: Mari's Book was by Northern Dancer out of a Maribeau mare; and Maribeau, like Saint Ballado's sire Halo, was out of Cosmah--whose half-sister Natalma, of course, gave us the sire of Mari's Book. Plenty of...

Since 2004, we've shined the spotlight on over 1,500 'TDN Rising Stars' worldwide, recognition given to a horse early on its career who has done something so impressive on the racetrack that our team believes they will go on to become graded stakes winners.  A horse is designated as a 'Rising Star' by the TDN staff after a careful and comprehensive review of many factors--including the quality of the field, margin and time of victory, pedigree, sales price and more. Over the years, it has become a badge of honor...

As we approach the opening of the 2023 breeding season, the TDN staff is once again sitting down with leading breeders to find out what stallions they have chosen for their mares, and why. Today we spoke with Carrie Brogden at Machmer Hall. We mate by physical mostly--negative traits to positive traits and vice versa. We try to add speed where there is none and we do not believe in like-to-like matings. We do not use nicks, but we do like successful crosses like Twirling Candy with Unbridled's Song. This...