West Point Thoroughbreds, St. Elias Stable, and Spendthrift Farm’s talented 3-year-old Freedom Child looks for his second graded stakes win of the year in Saturday’s $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) at Saratoga Racecourse.
A runaway winner of the Peter Pan Stakes (G2) on May 11 at Belmont Park, Freedom Child got hooked in a speed duel and faded in the lane in the June 8th Belmont Stakes.
West Point Thoroughbreds, St. Elias Stable, and Spendthrift Farm’s talented 3-year-old Freedom Child looks for his second graded stakes win of the year in Saturday’s $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) at Saratoga Racecourse.
A runaway winner of the Peter Pan Stakes (G2) on May 11 at Belmont Park, Freedom Child got hooked in a speed duel and faded in the lane in the June 8th Belmont Stakes.
"He was on the front end; they were going pretty quick," trainer Tom Albertrani said. "I thought maybe the first part of the race might have been a little quick for him, but Palace Malice was only a length behind us and he went on and won; either that or maybe our horse didn't want to go that far. He kind of lasted for a good mile and an eighth before he faded.
"As well as he ran in the Peter Pan, if he comes back and runs that similar race, he's going to be right back where he was. I can't make much out of the Belmont, really. I'm not going to discredit him off of that race. The way he's been working since came back from the Belmont, I've got a lot of confidence in the horse."
WPT president Terry Finley and Buzz Chace selected the handsome chestnut son of Malibu Moon at the 2011 Fasig-Tipton Select Yearling Sale in Saratoga. The Jim Dandy is Freedom Child’s first start at the historic oval.
“There was a tremendous amount of buzz about this horse leading into the Belmont,” said Finley. “Things didn’t work out the way we planned that day, but he rebounded quickly. I’ve watched him train the last week or so up here and he’s full of energy. I think a lot of people are going to overlook him based on his last effort.”
The nine-furlong Jim Dandy is race 10 on the Saturday card with post time of 5:45 ET. Freedom Child breaks from post 7 in the field of 10 with Luis Saez aboard.
Video of Freedom Child’s final breeze on 7/24 in preparation for the Jim Dandy:
Peter Pan win:
Macho Again captured the 2008 Jim Dandy (G2) for West Point Thoroughbreds:
