Unbridled Command circled the field and drew off to victory in the Grade 1
Hollywood Derby in his 2012 finale, capping a special sophomore season for a
colt that had begun his campaign with a third-place finish in an entry-level
allowance race restricted to horses bred in New York.
“He took baby steps and we picked our spots carefully and had a good year
because of it,” said trainer Tom Bush, whose New York-bred trainee finished last
season with a five-race winning streak at Hollywood Park.
Unbridled Command will be making another step up the class ladder in
Saturday’s Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap, in which he is slated to face
2011 Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom and three-time Grade 1 winner Point of
Entry.
“This race is a whole other level. He’s got to run against older horses for
the first time, and unfortunately he’s got to run against two of the best,” Bush
said. “I’m pretty concerned about that.”
While the son of Master Command will be clashing with two of the best horses
in training next Saturday, his triumph in the Hollywood Derby clearly makes him
worthy of the challenge. After sitting off the pace, Unbridled Command swept to
the lead on the final turn and went on to score by 1 1/2 lengths.
“I really had been pointing to that race since August. I knew the horse would
love a mile and a quarter and I knew it was against three-year-olds only,” Bush
said. “That was why we wanted to run in that race, because we knew it would fit
the horse. He did get the mile and a quarter nicely, and we were thrilled to see
that.”
It was a brilliant performance that few might have expected after his first
two races against state-breds to begin his three-year-old campaign. The pair of
third-place finishes, though, would be followed by an undefeated string of
races. The luxury of racing against state-breds in three of those races aided in
his steady development into a Grade 1 winner.
“Those races were a softer way to get a horse started. He wasn’t matured and
physically developed when we were getting his win streak going,” Bush said. “He
wasn’t as good a horse as he is now. It was great to have those races contribute
to his development.”
Unbridled Command’s emergence into a turf star wasn’t totally unexpected by
his trainer.
“I always had a lot of hope for the colt. I always liked him. He was very
immature early in his two-year-old year,” Bush said. “He was second at Saratoga
on the grass. Back then, he was a horse that didn’t learn how to relax. He
hadn’t filled out. He wasn’t muscled like I knew he could possibly get. He just
matured slowly.”
Bush liked what he saw during Unbridled Command’s early training.
“He was a nice-sized horse with a big long stride and a terrific mind,” the
trainer observed. “He’s a beautiful horse to be around — kind and easy to
gallop. He’s not hard on himself. He had a lot of the right qualities.
“Physically, he needed to grow up. He was able to train and race and grow and
develop as he trained and raced, and that made all the difference.”
Unbridled Command certainly has helped to fill the void in Bush’s stable left
by the retirement last year of Get Stormy, the 2012 Gulfstream Park Turf
Handicap winner who earned $1.6 million.
“He’s getting ready to start breeding some mares soon. They’re up a little
over 80 mares to breed to him so far, and we’re still working at it. Hopefully,
we can get a few more,” Bush said. “I never had another one like him, I can
promise you that.”
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