Free House Yearlings Debut at Del Mar

ARCADIA, Calif. (July 16, 2002) -- As with the career of any champion racehorse, numbers tell only part of the story. In the case of Free House, a Grade I winner at ages 3, 4 and 5, it was a look -- specifically, the stare -- that will carry his lore over the passage of time.

Just above his trademark shadow role, Trudy McCaffery and John Toffan’s California-bred marvel revealed he was not only a horse of boundless heart but also one of uncommon perception -- eyeballing Silver Charm to the finish of that unforgettable 1997 Preakness, and surveying many more competitors beside him in that same manner over his 22-race career.

Some would contend this heightened character is a gift, one which cannot be genetically imposed on any particular horse. Many breeders will counter their job is to see to it that, at least once in a great while, it is. Such is the quest behind the seven Free House yearlings from the Vessels Stallion Farm-resident’s first crop entered at the Del Mar Yearling Sale.

Free House represents a rather rare thread of the Never Bend sire line, one known for both brilliance and classic staying power, qualities a fully mature Free House exuded with equal measure. His sire Smokester, a grandson of Never Bend, also passes on Princequillo’s legacy courtesy of two of his two finest sons -- Round Table and Prince John -- and Free House’s dam, Fountain Lake, lends the presence of the Icecapade and Herbager lines to his total pedigree.

Free House’s first book of mares was a diverse group pedigree-wise, and the hallmark of speed is prominent in several of his Del Mar pedigrees, notably Hip 148, a colt out of Launch the Clan, a granddaughter of the champion sprinter and marvelous weight carrier What a Summer.

Of special note is Hip 40, a filly, out of the mare So Fortunate, a daughter of Garthorn, one of the most talented racehorses of the 1980’s and winner of the 1986 Met Mile, and Washington State-bred Delicate Vine, a Grade I-winning filly from that same year.

Other yearlings include one each out of a mare by Native Prospector, Pirate’s Bounty, the great Spectacular Bid, Cal-bred standout Variety Road and Cozzene, whose wonderful influence is long overdue out west.