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Tom Keyser <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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Belmont Stakes: Missing Derby a blessing for Freedom Child<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Email 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 Continue reading