Those predicting doomsday for the Unbridled's Song (Unbridled-Trolley Song, by Caro) progeny scored their first point yesterday when Eclipse champion two year old Midshipman (Unbridled's Song-Fleet Lady, by Avenue of Flags) was declared off the Triple Crown trail.
The colt was purchased by Godolphin Racing following his win in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. They announced Sunday morning that Midshipman suffered a minor soft tissue injury in his lef foreleg during routine training, which will lay him up about two months. The colt had been scheduled to make his 2009 debut next week and ship back to America in April.
Unbridled's Song, famous for throwing fast but fragile progeny, has been red-hot this year as the sire of early Derby favorite Old Fashioned, the talented Dunkirk, consistent Silver City and solid maiden winner Affirmatif. But many have wondered how far these youngsters will go before their breeding catches up with them. As handride put it on Twitter: "Will it be their feet or distance that does in the Unbridled's Song progeny?"
In all fairness, Unbridled's Song progeny are all kinds of fragile, and the distance question is quite valid. But a soft tissue injury is usually caused by a horse hitting himself or some other goof, not from the genetic fragility that might cause bone fractures. So I'm not quite ready to blame daddy for Midshipman missing the big dance just yet. I'm curious to see how well Old Fashioned and Dunkirk hold up with a couple more starts....and definitely will be interesting to see how far the quick Silver City and Affirmatif want to run. For the next couple of weeks, I'm reserving judgement.
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