Unbridled Freedom steps up for Display Stakes test / Glorious Song: Lamirada looks for first stakes score
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TORONTO, October 8, 2026 – Sunday’s $125,000 Display Stakes at Woodbine has drawn five starters, including Unbridled Freedom.
Trained by Patrick Dixon for owner Colebrook Farms, Unbridled Freedom heads into the seven-furlong main track event for 2-year-olds off a pair of seconds in the U.S.
The son of Title Ready out of the Medaglia d’Oro filly Unbridled Medaglia made his debut in a six-furlong sprint over the Ellis Park main track on Aug. 21.
Sent off as the 2-1 choice in the field of 11, Unbridled Freedom, conditioned by Eddie Kenneally for the curtain-raising engagement, took control ahead of the half and went on to finish 1 ¾ lengths behind the winner in the race run in 1:11.59.
In his most recent start, a six-furlong test over the Churchill Downs dirt, also under the tutelage of Kenneally, on Sept. 16, the bay colt rallied five-wide to secure the runner-up placing.
“I thought he ran two very good races, and he was very professional in both,” said Dixon, who has already established a career-best seasonal mark in purse earnings. “The race he ran at Churchill, he came from the 10-hole, and he was wide the whole time. He never had a chance to tuck in and save any ground. You could see where it kind of cost him a couple of lengths, where he could have competed with the horse who won the race. He could only go so far so long going that wide. It wasn’t as though he gave up – he just didn’t have any more to give.”
Dixon, who won the 2024 edition of the Display with Thundering, likes what he has seen from the latest addition to his barn.
“He’s quite the gentleman to be around and he’s very good-tempered for a colt. He’s not overly big, but he’s stocky. He’s very well-built and he’s very well put together, proportionately, for his size. He’s also a very easy-going horse.
“As long as there is a little bit of speed to run at on Sunday and he settles, it should work out for him. I think he gets the seven-eighths no problem and we will see how he handles the Poly. There are the two questions, but no matter the race, you will always have questions.”
Bred in Kentucky by Charles Fipke, Unbridled Freedom was a $45,000 purchase at the 2025 Keeneland Association September Yearling Sale.
Mark Spooner is the groom.
Recent works: Unbridled Freedom covered three furlongs over the Woodbine main track in :40.80 on Oct. 7.
“I have been galloping him myself,” said Dixon. “He has been doing everything that we have asked him to. For such a young horse, he has settled in well. He’s doing great.”
Fast facts: Flying Atom won the first running in 1956. Bred by William J. Porter, the bay went 6-8-9 from 39 starts, along with $21,785 in purse earnings. Jockey Al Coy won the 1957 edition with Drummond, the 1958 running with Bull Vic and the 1960 race with Ramblin Wreck.
Wagering menu for the Display: Rolling Double / Exacta / 0.20 Trifecta / 0.20 Superfecta / 0.20 Pick 3 (Races 7-8-9) / 0.20 Pick
4 (Races 7-8-9-10) / $1 Swinger.
Field for the Display Stakes
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Verge – Daisuke Fukumoto – Barb Minshall
2 – Odenkirk (S) – Rafael Hernandez – Mark Casse
3 – Quipster – Pietro Moran – Kevin Attard
4 – Uncle Dodo – Daisuke Fukumoto – Barb Minshall
5 – Unbridled Freedom – Fraser Aebly – Patrick Dixon
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Chris Lomon, Woodbine
Glorious Song: Lamirada looks for first stakes score
TORONTO, October 8, 2026 – Lamirada, a homebred for Mark Dodson, is set to take on six rivals in Sunday’s $125,000 Glorious Song Stakes at Woodbine.
A 2-year-old daughter of Army Mule out of the Verrazano mare Sister Nova, Lamirada enters the seven-furlong main track event for 2-year-old fillies with a pair of starts under her belt.
The dark bay, trained by Josie Carroll, came firing out of the gate to begin her career, winning her six-furlong debut by 11 ¾ lengths on Aug. 8 at Woodbine.
Fraser Aebly, aboard Lamirada for that commanding victory, was understandably impressed by the dominant effort.
“We all thought she was going to be a nice filly,” said Aebly, who recently eclipsed $14 million in lifetime purse earnings. “She broke sharply with me, as we expected, and she opened up to 11-plus lengths. She was very impressive that day – the turn of foot – the ability to switch gears was the most impressive part for me.”
Encouraged by the near gate-to-wire triumph, Lamirada’s connections promoted the freshman filly to the Grade 1 stakes ranks, specifically, the Natalma (G1T) on Sept. 12.
The Mark Dodson homebred turned in a valiant effort with Aebly in the irons but was unable to maintain the advantage she held for the majority of the one-mile turf contest through the wire, landing in seventh.
However, as Aebly noted, the result did not reflect the quality of Lamirada’s talents.
“She’s a nice filly and I don’t think if you look at the chart that it shows what she did that day,” he said. “She led in a Grade 1 on the E. P. Taylor, which is not an easy course to hold the lead on.
“She held it all the way until a little past the head of the lane – she ran hard. She didn’t quite come back to me as I had hoped, but she still showed an amazing effort.”
It was a stern test from start to finish.
“She never got out there and got a breather,” added Aebly. “She was kind of pressed the whole way. She wasn’t given an opportunity to come back and settle.”
Aebly points to the filly’s “mind and her size” as her most notable attributes.
“She’s a big, strong 2-year-old filly,” he praised. “She looks like a 3-year-old if you watch her in the paddock – she’s built like a 3-year-old.
“Her mind is amazing, too. She’s got a very good head on her and she’s very smart. She knows what to do – she knows when to train, she knows when to run and she likes to do it.”
With Lamirada ready to cover seven panels for the first time in her career, Aebly praised the work her team has put into their promising rookie.
“I’ve been breezing her in the mornings for Josie and I’m really liking what she and the team have been doing with her – they do an amazing job. I’m excited to get the opportunity to ride her in the Glorious Song, and hopefully, we can get the job done.”
Recent works: Unbridled Freedom covered five furlongs over the Woodbine main track in :59.00 on Oct. 2.
Fast facts: Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee Glorious Song, who achieved great success as a racemare and broodmare, became Canada’s first millionaire in 1981, a campaign in which she was named the country’s champion filly or mare for the second year in a row. She was the unanimous choice for a Sovereign as Horse of the Year in 1980, a season in which she also won an Eclipse Award as North America’s champion distaffer. In all, she recorded 17 wins, including 13 added-money triumphs, from 34 starts, along with purse earnings of $1,004,534.
Wagering menu for the Glorious Song: Rolling Double / Exacta / 0.20 Trifecta / 0.20 Superfecta / 0.20 Pick 3 (Races 8-9-10)/ $1 Swinger.
Field for the Glorious Song
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Cattrall – Pietro Moran – Kevin Attard
2 – From Time to Time (S) – Sahin Civaci – Mark Casse
3 – Madeleine Swann – Romero Ramsay Maragh – Josie Carroll
4 – Traction Park (S) – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Mark Casse
5 – Epic Affair – Ryan Munger – Gail Cox
6 – Hope Is a Breeze – Rafael Hernandez – Josie Carroll
7 – Lamirada – Fraser Aebly – Josie Carroll
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Matthew Lomon, for Woodbine
