After finishing in the top 10 on Indiana’s general sire list each of the last two years, the third time was the charm for Unbridled Express, who broke through to take the Hoosier State’s sire title for the first time in 2019. Unbridled Express, who stands at Swifty Farms in Seymour, Ind., sired 14 winners, including six repeat winners, from 29 starters for progeny earnings of $1,089,725 in 2019. He easily outdistanced his closest competitor on the list, Haffner Farm’s Notional, at $870,130. Unbridled Express was represented by three stakes winners in the fall at Indiana Grand to finish the year strong and clinch his title. Unbridled Class, after finishing second to multiple graded stakes winner Mylady Curlin in the Mari Hulman George Memorial Stakes, bounced back to win the Merrillville Stakes in September. She was followed by Super Jen, who won the Indiana Stallion Stakes in October, and Mystery Unbridled, who won the To Much Coffee Stakes in November. Unbridled Express, by Unbridled’s Song, won just once from five starts during his own racing career, but did finish third in the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes in 2006 at Saratoga to Circular Quay and Scat Daddy. Both went on to win additional graded stakes, and Scat Daddy was a multiple Grade 1 winner. Forever d’Oro busiest stallion Regally bred Forever d’Oro was Indiana’s busiest stallion in his first year at stud. Standing at Hidden Springs Farm, he covered 31 mares in 2019, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred. Forever d’Oro, by Medaglia d’Oro, is out of 2006 Kentucky Oaks winner Lemons Forever, who later that year finished third in the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes. The mare, honored as Kentucky’s Broodmare of the Year, is the dam of Grade 1-winning full sisters Forever Unbridled and Unbridled Forever. Forever Unbridled scored victories in the 2016 Apple Blossom Handicap and the 2017 Personal Ensign, Beldame, and Breeders’ Cup Distaff to earn divisional Eclipse Award honors in 2017. Unbridled Forever won the Grade 1 Ballerina Stakes and placed in three additional Grade 1 races, including a third in the 2014 Kentucky Oaks Forever d’Oro won once from seven starts and finished third in the 2016 Curlin Stakes at Saratoga behind future Grade 1 winners Connect and Gift Box. Indiana mare incentive The Indiana Thoroughbred Breed Development Program has announced financial incentives for the owners of mares purchased and brought into Indiana for the 2020 foaling season, in an attempt to bolster the foal crop and quality of mares in the state. The program is supported by an increase in funding from the implementation of table games at the state’s two parimutuel tracks. To be eligible, owners must have purchased a mare in foal at a public auction during the currently ongoing mixed sale season in North America. In addition to regional auctions, three major-market sales remained on this calendar at the time of Indiana’s announcement: the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale from Jan. 13-17, the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s winter mixed sale on Jan. 28-29, and the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky winter mixed sale on Feb. 10-11. Purchasers of those mares will then be eligible for a $1,000 incentive payout if the mare foals in Indiana and resides in the state for 30 days after foaling, in addition to submitting various verification of paperwork. An additional $1,000 will be offered to breeders who breed the mare back to a registered Indiana stallion for the 2020 breeding season and foal the mare in Indiana again in 2021. “We’re excited about the potential growth we are expecting in the coming years, thanks to the increase in funding starting in 2020,” Jessica Barnes, director of racing and breed development for the Indiana Horse Racing Commission, said in a release. “I applaud the Indiana Thoroughbred Breed Development advisory committee for their forward thinking in proposing this incentive. Big things are coming to our program, and we invite breeders to get in from the beginning to reap the most rewards.” This article is part of the Midwest regional coverage in our annual Kentucky Stallions special edition. To download the complete edition, click here.