Forever Unbridled targets return in Chicago Handicap

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Forever Unbridled, last seen finishing third behind Beholder and Songbird in their memorable duel in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff last fall, is expected to make her 5-year-old debut later this month at Churchill Downs after getting an extended rest.

Trainer Dallas Stewart said Forever Unbridled likely will return in the Grade 3, $100,000 Chicago Handicap, a seven-furlong race to be run here June 24.

Forever Unbridled has been on a regular Saturday breeze schedule at Churchill since May 13 and will continue that way into the race, said Stewart, who toyed with the idea of going in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis on June 17 before settling on the Chicago.

“She’s training great, that’s all I know,” said Stewart.

Forever Unbridled, bred and owned by Charles Fipke, held form in all six starts at 4, winning a pair of Grade 1 races – the Apple Blossom and Beldame – and never finishing worse than third while earning $1,280,000. She finished just 1 1/4 lengths behind Beholder and Songbird in the Nov. 4 BC Distaff.

Fipke and Stewart teamed to pull a 47-1 upset in the 2006 Kentucky Oaks with Lemons Forever, whose produce as a broodmare includes not only Forever Unbridled, but her older full sister Unbridled Forever, whose 12-race career ended with a victory in the 2015 Ballerina and more than $800,000 in earnings.

The Chicago, along with the May 20 Matron, were longtime fixtures at Churchill’s sister track Arlington Park before being moved here this year amid Arlington’s continuing financial woes.

Meanwhile, the decision by Stewart to go in the Chicago is making it easier for Tom Amoss to commit Big World to the 1 1/8-mile Fleur de Lis. Big World, a 4-year-old Louisiana-bred owned by Maggi Moss, won the Grade 1 La Troienne in her most recent start May 5.

“We’re probable,” said Amoss.

The Fleur de Lis is a Win and You’re In event toward the Nov. 3 BC Distaff at Del Mar and is part of the blockbuster Stephen Foster Night card. The Grade 1 Stephen Foster is the first Win and You’re In toward the Nov. 4 BC Classic. The NBC Sports Network will provide live television coverage of the Fleur de Lis and Foster.

Other Foster Night stakes are the Grade 3 Matt Winn, in which McCraken is expected to be a heavy favorite in his first start since the Kentucky Derby, along with a pair of turf stakes, the Grade 2 Wise Dan and Grade 3 Regret.