Catching Freedom garnered the first points 10 of the year in the Road to the Kentucky Derby with his powerful score in the $300,000 Smarty Jones S. on New Year’s Day at Oaklawn Park.
A 3-year-old son of Constitution, Catching Freedom was making his stakes debut in the 1 1/16-mile Smarty Jones. He got shuffled back at the start and had just one horse beat in the first quarter-mile. Keeping to the inside on the backstretch, he made up a bit of ground after a half-mile. He gained more ground on the turn before swinging five-wide coming into the stretch.
With a clear path in front of him, Catching Freedom soared past the frontrunners in mid-stretch and won going away by 2 ½-lengths in 1:44.59 on a fast track.
“Very proud of the horse,” said winning trainer Brad Cox. “I think he’s 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. I thought he stepped up and ran well against a solid group of 3-year-olds.”
Catching Freedom is now 2-0-0 in three starts and has earned $237,350. The bay colt is owned by the Albaugh Family Stables LLC, who purchased the bay colt for $575,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling sale.
Catching Freedom was bred by WinStar Farm. He is out of the stakes-winning mare Catch My Drift and is a half-brother to the stakes-placed duo of Bishops Bay and Strava.
Constitution wrapped up 2023 as the leading Fifth-Crop sire by stakes winners (13) and stakes horses (26) and in the top 15 on the General Sire list with $10.6 million in progeny earnings. His lifetime numbers include more than 60 stakes winners and the earners of over $40 million worldwide.
