Arrogate keeps Unbridled's Song's flame alive

Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith’s thoughts turned to another big, gray colt as he sat astride Arrogate for the first time.

“I rode his father – he looks so much like his father,” Smith said of the Unbridled’s Song colt, who demolished the Travers Stakes field Saturday at Saratoga by 13 1/2 lengths in a track-record 1:59.36. “He was an unbelievably talented horse, and his son might be even more talented. It’s crazy. He just did a mile and a quarter, and as you can see galloping out, I had trouble getting him to stop. We headed for home, and he picked it up when I asked him. I was amazed how he lengthened his stride the last sixteenth of a mile and opened up.”

Smith rode the injury-plagued Unbridled’s Song through all 12 starts of a career that included five wins and four seconds. The son of Unbridled made himself the favorite for the 1996 Kentucky Derby by winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, Florida Derby, and Wood Memorial. Hampered by a quarter crack, and running in a bar shoe, the colt struck the lead in the stretch before fading to finish a creditable fifth.

Unbridled’s Song entered stud at Taylor Made Farm in Nicholasville, Ky., in 1997 and became the farm’s flagship sire, standing there until his death in the summer of 2013. But since he departed, his offspring have continued to carry that banner. Arrogate is his sire’s second posthumous Travers winner; the other was Will Take Charge, who turned in a strong second half of the season to earn the 2013 Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old male.

Liam’s Map captured last year’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and Woodward Stakes, and Tara’s Tango is another posthumous Grade 1 winner for Unbridled’s Song, with her three graded stakes wins this season including the Santa Margarita.

Unbridled’s Song’s final foals are 2-year-olds of 2016. He has 11 starters from that group to date, with one winner. Tricky One took her debut at Churchill Downs before finishing fourth in the Debutante.

Unbridled’s Song’s 118 stakes winners also include Eclipse Award winner Midshipman; Sovereign Award winner Embur’s Song; Breeders’ Cup Distaff/Ladies’ Classic winners Unrivaled Belle and Unbridled Elaine; multiple Grade 1 winners Octave, Thorn Song, and Splendid Blended; Grade 1-winning full sisters Forever Unbridled and Unbridled Forever; and Grade 1 winner Graydar, who now stands at Taylor Made.