- Free House (horse)
Thoroughbred racehorse infobox
horsename = Free House
caption =
sire = Smokester
grandsire = Never Tabled
dam = Fountain Lake
damsire = Vigors
sex = Stallion
foaled = 1994
country =United States flagicon|USA
colour = Gray
breeder = John Toffan & Trudy McCaffery
owner = John Toffan & Trudy McCaffery
trainer =J. Paco Gonzales
record = 22: 9-5-3
earnings = $3,178,971
race = Norfolk Stakes (1996)San Felipe Stakes (1997)Santa Anita Derby (1997)Swaps Stakes (1997)Bel Air Handicap (1998)Pacific Classic Stakes (1998)Santa Anita Handicap (1999)San Antonio Handicap (1999)
awards=California Horse of the Year (1997, 1998)
honours =
updated= June 17, 2007Free House (1994-2004) was an American
Thoroughbred racehorse thatBlood-Horse Publications called one of the best California-bred horses of all time. A descendant ofNearco through both his sire and dam, he was bred and raced by John Toffan & Trudy McCaffery. In 1997 Free House was the dominant three-year-old inCalifornia racing, winning theSan Felipe Stakes and the most important Grade ISanta Anita Derby , both times defeatingSilver Charm .1997 U.S. Triple Crown
In the
Kentucky Derby , the first leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series, bettors sent Free House off as a more than 10:1 sixth choice behind favoritesCaptain Bodgit , theFlorida Derby andWood Memorial Stakes winner, andSilver Charm , the second choice. Free House started the Derby on the outside inpost position thirteen. The gray colt raced at or near the lead until the final furlong when Silver Charm and Captain Bodgit caught him and he finished third.In the
Preakness Stakes , Free House beat third-place finisher Captain Bodgit and fourth placeTouch Gold but in a head-to-head stretch drive, finished second by less than a head to Silver Charm. In the Belmont Stakes, by the time the horses reached the top of the stretch, Silver Charm and Free House were once again racing head-to-head but Touch Gold came on with a tremendous drive to win the race, denying Silver Charm the Triple Crown with Free House finishing third.After the Triple Crown series, Free House again finished third to Touch Gold, this time in the
Haskell Invitational Handicap atMonmouth Park . On his return to racing in California, he won the 1997Swaps Stakes over Deputy Commander. In 1998, as well as a victory in the Grade III Bel Air Handicap, Free House beat Gentlemen and Touch Gold to win the Grade IPacific Classic Stakes . Back on the track as a five-year-old in 1999, he won theSan Antonio Handicap then late in the year scored the biggest win of his career in theSanta Anita Handicap , defeating arch rival Silver Charm.Retired from racing, in 2000 Free House stood at stud at Vessels Stallion Farm in
Bonsall, California where he had to be euthanized following a July 19, 2004 accident that fractured his skull. In his brief stallion career, he led California's first-crop list in 2003 by progeny earnings and notably sired multiple stakes winner House of Fortune.References
* [http://breeding.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=23487 July 20, 2004 Bloodhorse.com article titled "California Star Free House Dies"]
* [http://www.pedigreequery.com/free+house Free House's pedigree and partial racing stats]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.