Albaugh Family Stables kicked off the 2024 season for 3-year-olds the right way Jan. 1 by taking the $300,000 Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park with Catching Freedom, who became a stakes winner in his stakes debut.
Month: January 2024
Road To Kentucky Derby: Catching Freedom Accelerates To Win Smarty Jones
Catching Freedom used an explosive late kick to post a 2½-length victory in Oaklawn's $300,000 Smarty Jones Stakes for 3-year-olds Monday.
Catching Freedom collected 10 points toward starting eligibility for the Kentucky Derby with the victory. The Smarty Jones offered 21 total qualifying points (10-5-3-2-1, respectively) to the top five finishers.
Cristian Torres rode Catching Freedom, the 8-5 favorite, for trainer Brad Cox and Iowa-based Albaugh Family Stables (Dennis Albaugh and son-in-law Jason Loutsch). Cox and Albaugh Family Stables teamed to win the Arkansas Derby (G1) last April with Angel of Empire.
Just Steel finished second in the Smarty Jones, a neck ahead of Informed Patriot.
Gettysburg Address, another neck farther back in fourth, was followed, in order, by Mystik Dan, Lagynos, Mo Winning, Chaperone, and Fidget. The top seven finishers were separated by 4½ lengths.
Catching Freedom ($5.40) finished the 1 1/16 miles over a fast track in 1:44.59. The Smarty Jones was extended to 1 1/16 miles in 2024 after being run at one-mile since its inception in 2008.
“He's a nice horse,” Torres said. “In his two races, he's a horse that hasn't shown much early speed. He just runs them down at the end. We were able to have great trip. I saved all the ground the first part of the race. As soon as I got him out, he accelerated like he always does.”
Cox said Catching Freedom is still learning.
“I think he was a little green there down the lane, but overall showed that he does have a lot of stamina and talent,” he said. “I thought he stepped up and ran well against a solid group of 3-year-olds.”
Ramon Vazquez, rider of Just Steel, said the colt got a little tired in the final sixteenth.
“The trainer (D. Wayne Lukas) told me he was going to be a little bit short. He tried hard. He's going to be a good horse.”
A son of Constitution out of the Pioneerof the Nile mare Catch My Drift, Catching Freedom raised his career earnings to $237,350 with his second victory from three career starts. Bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm LLC, Catching Freedom was a $575,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase in 2022. He was consigned by Warrendale Sales.
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Happy New Year, Harry Redknapp! His horse claims a surprise win at Cheltenham to give the ex-manager one of his greatest days as an owner
DOMINIC KING AT CHELTENHAM: The 10-year-old, who had been without a win since December 2022, has caused Pauling to pull his hair out at times and the trainer wasn't confident.
Stidham Has High Hopes for Promising Sophomores
Trainer Mike Stidham, who recorded the highest earnings mark of his 34-year career in 2023, got the new year off to a quick start when Godolphin's Heckled (Hard Spun) broke her maiden in the eighth race at Fair Grounds Monday. The conditioner has a pair of promising newly turned 3-year-olds who could help keep the momentum going in 2024.
Godolphin homebred Central Avenue (Street Sense), a first-out winner at Colonial Downs last August, was second in the Oct. 7 GI Frizette S. and, most recently, third in the Nov. 25 GII Golden Rod S. The dark bay filly worked four furlongs in :47.80 (2/82) at Fair Grounds Sunday.
“She's been working well at Fair Grounds,” Stidham said of the filly. “We're looking at her for the preps that lead to the [GII] Fair Grounds Oaks, so we'll see.”
Stidham also has high hopes for Pin Oak Stud's Phantom Speed (Arrogate), a $700,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase. The gray colt just missed when second in his six-furlong unveiling at Fair Grounds Nov. 24. He was third behind the Brad Cox-trained Ethan Energy (Uncle Mo) when stretched to 1 1/16 miles Dec. 23.
“I expected a little bit better, but the Cox horse looks like something special,” Stidham said of that second effort. “Phantom Speed is a big, heavy colt. Certainly he's going to benefit from the race and improve physically and mentally from that run. That came up a very solid maiden race. Anytime you've got a well-bred $700,000 yearling that comes out and runs a big race like he did the first time out, you begin thinking along the lines [of Derbys], but we're a long way out from thinking that high.”
Stidham's New Orleans-based string also includes last year's GIII Monmouth Cup winner Catnip (Kitten's Joy) and Saturday's Pago Hop S. winner Tufani (Distorted Humor).
“He's really doing well,” Stidham said of Catnip. “Training very well. We're happy with him. We're waiting to see if we get an invitation to the [Jan. 27 GI] Pegasus Turf. If that happens, we'll probably go there. If it doesn't happen then we'll definitely be looking at the [Jan. 20] Colonel Bradley.”
Of the now 4-year-old Tufani, who was winning her first stakes race, Stidham said, “Tufani has always shown us a lot of talent since we first got her. She's developed. She's learned to relax. I think the arrow is pointing up for her.”
The Stidham barn reached $5,098,073 in earnings in 2023, led by GI Breeders' Cup Classic third-place finisher Proxy (Tapit).
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