By winning the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes, held at Laurel Park this year while Pimlico is being rebuilt, Napoleon Solo moved his sire, Liam's Map, into the ranks of classic stallions.
With this accomplishment, Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Liam's Map has joined Arrogate in siring a classic winner to represent the Unbridled's Song branch of the male line of Unbridled – Fappiano – Mr. Prospector. [Champion Arrogate sired not only Preakness winner Seize the Grey but also Belmont Stakes winner Arcangelo , as well as Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Oath, from his three crops of foals.]
Mr. Prospector's first classic winner came home in the 1982 Belmont, and Conquistador Cielo, trained by Woody Stephens, had won the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at a mile and against older horses only six days before the Belmont Stakes, raced around the spacious turns of Belmont Park over 12 furlongs.
With Unbridled, Fappiano sired the single classic winner among his many stakes winners, but Unbridled counted for more than most. Bred in Florida by Tartan Farm, Unbridled was purchased at the Tartan dispersal in 1987 by Frances A. Genter, who also purchased the colt's dam at the same sale.
As the 1990 Kentucky Derby winner, Unbridled took home the laurels for the Breeders' Cup Classic that year and was champion 3-year-old colt, then retired to stud at Gainesway Farm for the 1992 breeding season. At stud, Unbridled shone even more brightly than on the racetrack and sired a winner of each race of the Triple Crown, as well as multiple champions and winners of premium races for 2-year-olds, fillies, and older horses.
One of Unbridled's most impressive first-crop juveniles was the tall, lanky Unbridled's Song, who was a foal of 1993 and helped precipitate a bidding war for the massive bay Unbridled.
It proved a melee among millionaires, with the Japanese breeders from the North Island trying to snare the most classic stallion from the Mr. Prospector line. In another corner were the Irish, as the Coolmore group coveted the big, brawny bay as an anchor stallion for their increasingly powerful Ashford Stud in the States, but the winner was Claiborne Farm.
The first winner for Unbridled was a plain dark bay colt bred by W.T. Young's Overbrook Farm, and Grindstone won his maiden in his debut, which came on June 11, 1995, at Belmont Park.
But there was a much more heralded juvenile from the first crop by Unbridled before any of the stallion's foals had made a start. That was Unbridled's Song.
Bred in Kentucky by Mandysland Farm, Unbridled's Song had sold for $200,000 as a yearling to Paraneck Stable at the Saratoga select yearling sale. Then the big gray went to the juvenile in-training sales at Barretts in California for their premier March auction of 2-year-olds.
Unbridled's Song made believers of everybody at the sale and brought a whopping price of $1.4 million from Japanese buyer Hiroshi Fujita.
Then Fujita, or actually his vet, moved to negate the sale. They had found a "flake" in one of the colt's front ankles. Paraneck Stable took the colt back, put him into training with Jim Ryerson, and the press couldn't take their eyes off the colt.
He worked like a wild animal, showing speed and character that mesmerized spectators. When Unbridled's Song made his debut at Saratoga on Aug. 26, he was the odds-on favorite and won by 8 ½ lengths. The colt's next start was the G1 Champagne Stakes on Oct. 7, and Unbridled's Song was the third choice behind early season star Hennessy (Storm Cat) and the once-beaten Maria's Mon (Wavering Monarch). Unbridled's Song set the pace, leading by six lengths after a half-mile in :45.33 but faded to fourth behind Maria's Mon, with Hennessy sixth.
In the Breeders' Cup Juvenile three weeks later, Unbridled's Song rated his speed, came through traffic, caught Hennessy in the stretch, and won by a neck in 1:41.60 for the mile and a sixteenth. The Eclipse Award for leading juvenile colt went to Maria's Mon for his impressive season, including victory over both Unbridled's Song and Hennessy in the Champagne.
After winning the G1 Florida Derby and Wood Memorial the following season, Unbridled's Song was a raging favorite among the wise guys forecasting the Triple Crown. Indeed, the crowd made the big gray the favorite for the Kentucky Derby, even though Unbridled's Song had had delays in training, problems with a hoof, and was clearly not given the easiest assignment in getting to the Derby.
In the meantime, Grindstone had returned to racing as a 3-year-old, winning the Louisiana Derby and finishing second in the Arkansas Derby. Trainer Wayne Lukas brought the medium-sized colt to the Kentucky Derby, and amid all the press excitement over Unbridled's Song, Grindstone was comparatively overlooked.
In the Derby, Unbridled's Song tracked the pace, took the lead at the mile, then faded somewhat through the stretch as Grindstone came on to win by a nose for Overbrook and trainer Wayne Lukas. They defeated Cavonnier (Batonnier), a colt from California trained by a Derby newcomer named Bob Baffert.
After Grindstone won the Derby, that set off a bidding war to acquire the Genter family's interest in Unbridled. Frances Genter had died in November 1992, and the estate had dispersed most of her Thoroughbreds, including the dam of Unbridled, Gana Facil (Le Fabuleux), who had been purchased by John Magnier for $1.35 million at the Keeneland November sale in 1995.
Bentley Smith, who managed the Genter family's Thoroughbred holdings, didn't want the stallion to leave the country, and when Seth Hancock organized a group of investors, they were able to buy and syndicate Unbridled for $19 million.
It was well spent.
The deal closed in June 1996, and Unbridled went to Claiborne. Claiborne and the breeders who funded the purchase of Unbridled wanted the horse because they believed he was the next star of American breeding, the one who would produce racehorses of the highest quality for racing at the highest level.
Unbridled had already two classic-quality stars from his first crop. And the stars kept coming.
In 1998, Banshee Breeze won the G1 Coaching Club American Oaks, Alabama, and Spinster, then was named champion 3-year-old filly; in 1999, Anees won the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile and was champion 2-year-old colt; in 2000, Red Bullet won the Preakness and Unshaded won the Travers, and in 2003, Empire Maker won the Florida Derby, Wood Memorial, and Belmont Stakes and Halfbridled was the unbeaten winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and champion 2-year-old filly.
By then, Unbridled was already gone. In 2001, the big horse had required internal surgery, suffered complications from the procedure, and was euthanized. He was 14.
It is one of the wonders of the Thoroughbred that the truly great sires, even when lost far too soon, leave a mark on the breed that distinguishes them for generations to come.
This story was originally published by Paulick Report on May 20, 2026, where it first appeared in the Features section. Add Paulick Report as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
