[2] Unbridled was a bay horse with a broad white blaze bred in Florida by Tartan Stable He was sired by Fappiano (10 wins in 17 starts), by Mr. Prospector, and his dam was Gana Facil, by Le Fabuleux.
Gana Facil was descended from Magic, a half-sister to both the champion sprinter Ta Wee and Dr Fager.
At age three, ridden by jockey Pat Day, he won the Grade I Florida Derby by four lengths, then finished second behind Summer Squall in the Blue Grass Stakes.
He then won America's most prestigious race, the Kentucky Derby, by 3½ lengths with jockey Craig Perret, while Summer Squall finishing second.
In the fall, ridden by Day, Unbridled won the 1¼ mile Breeders' Cup Classic at Belmont Park in 2:02.20 minutes.
When Unbridled won the Derby, a network television camera in the Churchill Downs stands captured his trainer, Carl Nafzger, giving the horse's elderly owner, Frances Genter, a stretch call because of her poor vision.
In September 2001, Unbridled underwent two operations at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute, near Lexington, Kentucky, to be treated for intestinal issues.