Former US, now English-trained galloper Unbridled Command is on track to kick off a campaign aimed at the Sportingbet Cox Plate in the next two weeks with trainer Ed Dunlop weighing up his options for the four-year-old’s first up run, reports Racing Victoria.
Part owned by Kevin and Colleen Bamford, who are best known for also having an interest in 2010 Melbourne Cup winner Americain, Colleen Bamford said the Group 2 York Stakes (2092m) in England on July 27 was one of three potential options for Unbridled Command’s first up run.
Bamford said the other two races that Dunlop was considering for the son of Master Command were the totepool.com Conditions Stakes (2000m) at Epsom on August 1, as well as the Group 3 Glorious Stakes (2414m) at Goodwood on August 2.
Click here to view Unbridled Command’s international horse profile
“The track at York should suit him but he will get a six pound (2.72kg) penalty for being a Group 1 winner,” Bamford said.
“While he wouldn’t receive a penalty in the Conditions Stakes, Ed (Dunlop) just isn’t sure how the horse will handle Epsom as it’s a very different type of track to anything he’s ever run on before.
“In the Glorious Stakes at Goodwood, which is the third option, he would also get a seven pound (3.17kg) penalty for being a Group 1 winner.
“Ed is still yet to make up his mind where he will resume, but he has said that he won’t run the horse on a very fast track.”
An impressive winner of the Group 1 Hollywood Derby (2000m) at Hollywood Park (US) as a three-year-old under former trainer Thomas Bush, Unbridled Command’s ability was underlined in his latest effort when a close-up third behind Point Of Entry and Animal Kingdom in the Group 1 Turf Handicap (1800m) at Gulfstream Park (US) in February.
While they aren’t expecting too much from his first up run in England, Bamford said a trip to Melbourne for the Cox Plate was still very much the plan.
“We went over and saw him work at Newmarket and he looked really well,” she said.
“Ed’s (Dunlop) quite happy with him and it’s now just a question now of finding the right race to start him off in.”
In further exciting news, Bamford’s former star galloper Americain is currently spending time in quarantine in the US before he heads back to Australia to stand his first season at Swettenham Stud in Victoria.
A potentially exciting influence of stamina for the Victorian breeding industry, Bamford said Americain has the fertility rate to match his outstanding racetrack ability, looks and temperament.
“We’re really hoping that he can be a leading sire of stayers for the Victorian breeding industry going forward,” she said.
“I think in recent years people have become mindful that if you want to run in these big staying races then it’s just getting too expensive to buy horses from Europe.
“Adam Sangster from Swettenham (Stud) said that he has been extremely popular which is fantastic and really exciting.”
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