Pletcher confirms Unbridled Honor will run in Preakness

ELMONT, N.Y. - On the day it was announced he was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, trainer Todd Pletcher confirmed that he will take a shot in one of the few major races he has yet to win, as Unbridled Honor will run in the Preakness Stakes.

Unbridled Honor, a son of Honor Code owned and bred by Mandy Pope’s Whisper Hill Farm, has one win from five starts. He finished fourth in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby in March and, most recently, was second to King Fury in the Grade 3 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland.

“He ran well in the Lexington, I thought he ran sneaky good at the Tampa Derby, I trained him at Churchill I thought he breezed very well,” Pletcher said Wednesday morning at Belmont Park. “He’s a horse I think will appreciate some pace in the race, which I think the way this is going to shape up we’re going to see a contested pace.”

In the Tampa Derby, Unbridled Honor was last of 12 halfway through the race and ended up fourth, beaten seven lengths by Helium.
“He got way far out of it and he was finishing best of all, he just had way too much to do turning for home,” Pletcher said.

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Pletcher will put Luis Saez on Unbridled Honor, who was ridden by Julien Leparoux in his previous two starts. Pletcher is winless with nine starters over seven runnings of the Preakness. Impeachment, third in 2000, was his best finish.