By Brad Cox trained, #5 Catching Freedom at 7-2 won the $1 mil. Louisiana Derby yesterday, going from first to last in an upset. Previously, Catching Freedom had finished 3rd in the Risen Star behind #12 Track Phantom and won the Smarty Jones. Benefiting from a solid opening pace of 23.49, the horse swung wide around the far turn and catapulted to the lead down the stretch. During Catching Freedom’s move, #7 Honor Marie was on his inside and finished second. Statistically, Catching Freedom did not have a lot behind him, with a final speed estimate of 9.1% (10-1 equivalent) but a 14.0% win percentage (6-1 equivalent). The late strength by Honor Marie was projected in his field-high LP estimate of 31.8% in spite of the horse regressing in his last race. It seemed Honor Marie was in a better spot in this race in his second start off the lay-off. Though disappointing, Track’s Phantom’s performance at this distance of 1 3/16 mi. was foreseeable, as the horse did not project at all with late speed (only 0.7% for LP), rather all of the horse’s speed was upfront. The horse was bet down to 2-1 for having had two wins and one place finish in three graded stakes races. Honor Marie was a good choice for a bounce-back after winning the Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill as a two-year old, but Catching Freedom was a bit of a surprise in showing late speed to such a degree he had not shown before. The program’s first selection, Common Defense, could not repeat his miracle run in the Rebel after his second place finish behind Timberlake at 27-1 odds.
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