Moon Spun just kept running to take the Ubridled Sidney, Courtney Snow/Past The Wire
Churchill Downs Press
LOUISVILLE, KY – Town and Country Racing’s Moon Spun was quickest out of the gate and stayed in front all the way to post a three-quarters of a length victory in the 16th running of the $474,000 Unbridled Sidney (GII) for fillies and mares Friday afternoon at Churchill Downs.
Trained by Brian Lynch and ridden by Javier Castellano, Moon Spun completed the 5 ½ furlongs on a firm Matt Winn Turf Course in 1:01.64. It is the second victory in the race for Lynch, who won with Tobys Heart in 2022.
Moon Spun led the field of eight through unopposed fractions of :22.13 and :44.60. She maintained a clear advantage in the stretch and had more than enough left to hold off Shoot It True.
In winning her first graded stakes, Moon Spun improved her record to 11-6-3-1 and increased her earnings to $656,560 with Friday’s $303,040 check. She is a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Hard Spun out of the Malibu Moon mare Moonlit Bay.
Moon Spun returned $29.18, $11.66 and $6.46. Shoot It True, ridden by Joel Rosario, returned $10.10 and $7.14 and finished a half-length ahead of Creed’s Gold, who paid $6.26 to show under Flavien Prat.
Queen Maxima, the 2025 race winner, was another three-quarters of a length back in fourth and followed in order by Time to Dazzle, Haulin Ice and favored Shisospicy, the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (GI) winner who was making her 2026 debut.
UNBRIDLED SIDNEY QUOTES
Javier Castellano (Jockey, Moon Spun, winner): “As soon as the starting gate opened, the race developed differently than we thought. I thought the horses inside of me would go to the lead but my horse broke better than I expected. We had plenty of run as I came around the far turn and she responded great down the stretch.”
Brian Lynch (Trainer, Moon Spun, winner): ‘She didn’t love with poly last time we ran her. She’s so honest. All the ducks lined up today and they were running hard. I’m thrilled she was able to hang on late.’
Joel Rosario (Jockey, Shoot It True, second): “I have no complaints. She broke well and ran well. She ran her race for me. That winner was just a little too quick.”
Irad Ortiz Jr. (Jockey, Shisospicy, seventh as favorite): “She broke good. The rail cleared for me early and I thought she wanted to be closer earlier but felt like she didn’t want to be there. I dropped back and got into position in seventh. I thought I was going to be there (with a run) but it didn’t work out for us. She made a little run and that was it. She was washed out a little bit before the race. I tried to relax her but she was coming off a long layoff so hopefully this race helped her out.”
