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Tom Keyser

Freedom Child (left) is held back by an assistant starter at the break in the Wood Memorial, in which he was declared a non-starter. He enters Saturday's Belmont Stakes off a 13 1/4-length romp in the Peter Pan.

ELMONT, N.Y. The worst thing to ever happen to Freedom Child may turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to Freedom Child.

With one chance to crack the field for the Kentucky Derby, Freedom Child, coming off a maiden victory, ran in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. Well, he attempted to run in the Wood Memorial.

A split second before the gates officially opened, Go Get the Basil, the horse inside of Freedom Child, charged the gate, opening it a fraction of a second before the starter did. The assistant starter in the stall with Freedom Child took a hold of the horse and still had a hold of him when the doors opened, forcing Freedom Child to break in a tangle. Essentially, his race and any hopes for making the Derby were over. Though he did make a move into contention down the backside, Freedom Child retreated to last in the field. He was later declared by the stewards to be a non-starter because he was in the hands of the assistant starter.

Frustrated at the time, the connections of Freedom Child quickly turned the page and formulated a different plan that included a start in Saturdays 145th Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park.

The first part of the plan was engineered perfectly Freedom Child romped to a 13 1/4-length victory in the Grade 2 Peter Pan Stakes over Belmont Parks main track May 11. That performance, and how hes trained since, has Freedom Child considered by many among the top contenders in the 14-horse field for the Belmont.

We thought there was a reason why we didnt go to the Kentucky Derby, said Terry Finley, president of the West Point Thoroughbreds partnership group that owns one-third of Freedom Child. Were hoping we run well in the Belmont and have a really good second half of the year and everything will be made right.

Given Freedom Childs running style and considering the way the Derby was run, missing that race may be a blessing in disguise. Freedom Child is a front-running sort, and the early fractions in the Kentucky Derby ranked in the top five in the history of the race. The four horses in front after the first half-mile finished 12th, 14th, 18th, and 17th.

Read more:

Belmont Stakes: Missing Derby a blessing for Freedom Child