Unbridled Bomber awaiting stakes return after solid allowance win
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OZONE PARK, N.Y. -- Now that he has gone through his allowance conditions, Unbridled Bomber will be returning to stakes company for his next start. When and where that will be has yet to be determined.
Unbridled Bomber rebounded from a disappointing seventh-place finish in the Queens County Stakes on Jan. 7 to win a third-level allowance by nine lengths on April 16, earning a career-best 99 Beyer Speed Figure in the process. In that win, going a one-turn mile, Unbridled Bomber showed speed heretofore unseen in any of his previous races.
“He hadn’t run one turn in a while, but he’s always trained like a horse with enough speed to run well one-turn, but he was getting outrun so much,” trainer Jim Ryerson said. “Maybe he’s just learning a little bit.”
Last fall, Unbridled Bomber won allowance races at 1 1/8 miles and 1 3/16 miles before trying the Queens County, where he finished seventh, 12 lengths behind Law Professor.
Ryerson said Unbridled Bomber had bit his tongue during training a few days before the Queens County and while he thought the horse was okay, Ryerson said the horse was uncomfortable when a tongue tie was put on before the race.
“We couldn’t even get the halter off of him. He was not himself at all,” Ryerson said.
Ryerson had Unbridled Bomber entered in an allowance race at Aqueduct on Feb. 3, but had to scratch when the horse developed a bruised foot days before the race.
Being that his last three victories have come at distances from a mile to 1 3/16 miles, there will be ample options for Unbridled Bomber. Ryerson said the Grade 3, $175,000 Westchester Stakes going a mile at Belmont on May 5 was likely too close back to his most recent win.
* The New York Gaming Commission fined trainer Rob Atras and owner Keith O’Neill each $2,000 for transferring a horse they claimed to another trainer within 30 days of the claim. On March 26, Atras claimed Flattering Gal for $16,000 on behalf of O’Neill’s Windylea Stable.
Flattering Gal was entered for Monday’s opening-day card at Finger Lakes with Windylea listed as the owner, but Jonathan Buckley as the trainer.
* White Abarrio, forced to scratch from the Grade 1 Carter due to an illness upon shipping up from Florida, worked a half-mile in 50.58 seconds Thursday morning over the Belmont Park training track.
He is now being pointed to the Grade 3, $175,000 Westchester Stakes on May 5 at Belmont.
On Friday, Weyburn, the Sir Shackleton Stakes winner at Gulfstream, went six furlongs in 1:13.65 over the Belmont training track, and Dr. Ardito, winner of six straight races including the Haynesfield Stakes, went a half-mile in 49.77 seconds over the Belmont training track as they prepare for the Westchester.
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