Forever Unbridled upsets Songbird in Ensign
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » With her three rivals having trailed from the start, and an announced Travers Day crowd of 50,000 cheering her on, Songbird looked to be poised to win the ninth Grade 1 of her career as she wheeled into the stretch of Saturday’s $700,000 Personal Ensign Stakes.
One of those opponents, however, was still very much in the race. Last early, and forced to go three wide on the turn, Forever Unbridled was making up ground with every stride. The five-yearold mare lost some momentum while drifting out coming off the turn, but once she got her feet under her again, she began a relentless drive through the stretch, collaring Songbird – who may not have seen her coming until the sixteenth pole – a few strides from the wire and crossing under a neck in front.
Eskenformoney was another 4½ lengths back in third, with Going for Broke bringing up the rear. Forever Unbridled covered the nine furlongs over a “fast” main track in 1 minute, 49.16 seconds.
“I just let [winning jockey Joel] Rosario do his thing,” said winning trainer Dallas Stewart. “I was hoping she’d get there, but you never know when you’re trying to run down a champion. It wasn’t easy, but she did it.
“The way she’s training, and the way she’s always trained, she’s a great mare,” Stewart added. “She’s powerful and strong like Winning Colors was. She’s that type of mare.”
It was another tough beat for Songbird, whose two career losses have been by a nose and a neck. The two-time champion hadn’t been quite as impressive in her first two outings as a four-year-old, as she had been at two and three, but after setting a moderate pace on Saturday, it looked like she should have enough to get home.
“I wish they would’ve come right next to me because I think [Songbird] would’ve picked them up and maybe held them off,” said Mike Smith, who was aboard Songbird. “When I asked her heading for home, she accelerated. She’s not supposed to get run down. And [Rosario] ran me down.”
According to Rosario, going wide in the stretch was part of the plan.
“I decided to stay away from Songbird because I was moving very well,” said Rosario. “[Forever Unbridled] is a galloper. She went out there, and I just let her be happy, and whenever she wants to run, I let her run. She was impressive today.”
The Personal Ensign was Forever Unbridled’s sixth graded win and second Grade 1. The daughter of Unbridled’s Song, a Charles E. Fipke homebred, has seven wins and seven placings in 16 starts, with career earnings of $2,086,880.
The last word goes to Jerry Hollendorfer, trainer of Songbird.
“She ran all right,” said the Hall of Fame conditioner. “She got beat by a good horse, and we came up a neck short. We’ll probably go back to California and try to prepare for the Breeders’ Cup back there.”