Last active son of Unbridled standing in Kentucky is pensioned aged 24

Prominent Kentucky sire and Pin Oak Stud homebred Broken Vow has been pensioned from stud duty.

The 24-year-old stallion out of multiple stakes producer Wedding Vow was the last active son of Unbridled standing in Kentucky. He had shared that honour with Empire Maker, who died on January 18, 2020.

"First as a racehorse and then as an anchor to our stallion roster for 20 seasons, Broken Vow is the embodiment of Ms Abercrombie's breeding programme, producing sound, competitive racehorses whose bloodlines endure," said Clifford Barry, manager of Josephine Abercrombie's Pin Oak Stud.

"We appreciate the industry's support through the years, but mostly we thank Broken Vow for his loyal service to the farm and look forward to providing a well-deserved retirement for him here at Pin Oak."

Broken Vow was an extraordinarily consistent racehorse for trainer Graham Motion. He was undefeated in four starts at three, when he became a stakes winner in the Sir Barton Stakes at Pimlico.

At four he finished off the board only once in ten starts and furthered his stakes credentials with wins in the Grade 2 Philip H. Iselin Handicap, Grade 3 Ben Ali Stakes, R.R.M. Carpenter Jr. Memorial Stakes and Skip Away Stakes.

He would be runner-up in the Grade 2 Meadowlands Cup Handicap and Grade 3 Fayette Stakes, and third in the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Handicap and Grade 2 Massachusetts Handicap. He retired with a 9-2-2 record from 14 starts and earned $725,296.

As a stallion, he sired 80 (six per cent) black-type winners and another 79 that were stakes placed. His elite runners include 27 Graded/Group winners, of which six were Grade/Group 1 winners —Champagne Room, Unbridled Belle, Rosalind, Sassy Image, Cotton Blossom and Emerging Talent.

Six of his best runners became champions, including 2016 champion two-year-old filly Champagne Room, three-time Panamanian champion Forever Fixed and Korean Horse of the Year and champion three-year-old male Dongbanui Gangja.

Though not a Graded stakes winner, his son Tone Broke won two legs of the 2019 Canadian Triple Crown, capturing the Prince of Wales Stakes and Breeders' Stakes after finishing third in the Queen's Plate Stakes.

Broken Vow's progeny have earned more than $80.6 million and averaged $74,096 per starter.

As a broodmare sire, Broken Vow figures to continue to have a lasting influence on the breed. His daughters have produced 36 black-type winners so far who have excelled on turf and dirt, and another 54 stakes-placed runners.

Broken Vow is the broodmare sire of top-five second-crop sire Runhappy, who won the 2015 Breeders' Cup Sprint on his way to earning champion sprinter honours that year. Runhappy now stands at Claiborne Farm and to date has sired five black-type winners, including Grade 2 Vosburgh Stakes winner Following Sea.

Other Graded stakes winners with Broken Vow as a broodmare sire include 2017 Grade 1 La Troienne Stakes winner Big World, Australian Group 1 winner and sire Hampton Court, and multiple Grade 1-placed/Grade 3 winner Stays In Vegas.

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