Freedom Child has enjoyed an eventful career for a sophomore runner who only had one win, but everything finally went right for the Malibu Moon ridgling May 11 at rain-whipped Belmont Park.
Romping in the slop by 13 1/4 lengths to take the $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes, the chestnut runner punched his ticket to the June 8 Belmont Stakes.
Owned by West Point Thoroughbreds (no affiliation to the Military Academy), St. Elias Stable (owned by Vinnie Viola '77), and his breeder, Spendthrift Farm, Freedom Child rebounded off a 10th-place finish in the April 6 Wood Memorial Stakes, in which he ran for purse money only after being held in the gate by an assistant starter and getting away poorly.
Three starts prior to the Wood, Freedom Child tangled with eventual Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands winner Orb, but was passed by that one after setting the pace. He would finish second by two lengths in the one-mile maiden special weight Nov. 24 at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Freedom Child eventually went on to break his maiden in his fourth start by 5 1/4 lengths going 1 1/8 miles wire-to-wire at Gulfstream Park March 10.
"We thought we were set to run well in the Wood; we just had a little bit of bad luck," said Terry Finley '86, president of West Point Thoroughbreds. "The next day we put a circle around the Peter Pan. I think we're going to the Belmont Stakes in about four weeks [now].
"I hope Orb runs well in the Preakness and the whole world is watching for the Belmont, and I hope we upset the apple cart."