Unbridled’s Song Breaks Bone, Is Retired to Stud

Unbridled’s Song, who overcame brittle bones, sore feet, a lung infection, ulcers, a bleeding condition and suspect handling to win major races in New York and Florida and earn $1.3 million, has been retired.

Galloping Friday at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Fla., in preparation for the Donn Handicap next Saturday, Unbridled’s Song broke a cannon bone in his left foreleg. The injury is the second break in that leg but is not life-threatening and is expected to heal in about six months. The 4-year-old colt’s stud career will begin at Taylor Made Farm in Nicholasville, Ky.

“He’s the best horse I’ve ever had,” said Nick Zito, who also trained Kentucky Derby winners Strike The Gold and Go For Gin. Unbridled’s Song ran only twice for Zito, winning the Olympic Handicap on Jan. 19.

Before Zito, Unbridled’s Song was trained by Jim Ryerson, the middleman in a management trio that also included the forceful owner Ernie Paragallo and Buzz Chace, Paragallo’s racing manager. Despite hoof problems, Unbridled’s Song ran with bar shoes in last year’s Kentucky Derby and finished a gallant fifth as the 7-2 favorite. Before that, Unbridled’s Song won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in 1995 and the Florida Derby and the Wood Memorial last year.

Unbridled’s Song was a controversial horse even before he ran a race. He was sold at a Pomona auction for $1.4 million, the most ever bid for an unraced 2-year-old, but the buyer turned him back when X-rays showed a spot on one of his ankles.

After regaining the horse, the brash Paragallo predicted that Unbridled’s Song would win the Kentucky Derby, then expanded the prediction to a sweep of the Triple Crown after the colt’s win in the Breeders’ Cup.