Catching Freedom definite for Preakness Stakes, Cox says

Catching Freedom, the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby winner who finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby on May 4, will make his next start in Saturday’s $2 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico, trainer Brad Cox said Sunday.

Cox, who typically doesn’t run his Derby starters back in the Preakness, said Catching Freedom came out of the Derby in good shape and that he has been happy with the way the horse has galloped this week at Churchill Downs. The horse will ship to Baltimore by van following training on Monday.

“We don’t normally run back in two weeks. We put a lot of focus on the Kentucky Derby, so most of the time we don’t look at the Preakness that close,” Cox said. “This horse ran a good race in the Kentucky Derby, he’s a horse that breaks, finds his way, makes a good move from the half-mile pole home in his previous races, so therefore I don’t think it takes as much out of him. Physically, he looks good, so we’re going to enter tomorrow.”

Cox was content with the trip Catching Freedom had in the Kentucky Derby. Under Flavien Prat, Catching Freedom was 13th early, but raced mostly in the two-path down the backstretch. At the top of the stretch, he followed Mystik Dan through an opening along the rail and managed to close for fourth, beaten 1 3/4 lengths. Mystik Dan won the Derby by a nose over Sierra Leone, who was a nose better than Forever Young.

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“I thought he got a good trip and the winner of the Kentucky Derby got an incredibly good trip - jock rode him as well as you could ride a horse,” Cox said, referring to Brian Hernandez Jr. on Mystik Dan. “The horses that were second and third were very, very good and they’re not in there.”

While Mystik Dan is running in the Preakness, Sierra Leone and Forever Young are not. Sierra Leone is targeting the Belmont Stakes on June 8 at Saratoga, while Forever Young returned to Japan - though he is being considered for a return to the U.S. this fall for the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar.

Cox has run horses only once in the Preakness, in 2019 when he finished third and fourth with Owendale and Warrior’s Charge, neither of whom had run in the Kentucky Derby. Cox entered Lexington Stakes winner First Mission in last year’s Preakness, but had to scratch the day before the race due to an injury.

Flavien Prat will retain the mount on Catching Freedom in the Preakness.

Catching Freedom is the third horse from the Kentucky Derby to commit to running in the Preakness; Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan and 17th-place finisher Just Steel are the others. In 2021 and 2022, three Derby starters ran in the Preakness. Last year, only Kentucky Derby winner Mage competed in the second jewel of Thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown.

Those who did not run in the Kentucky Derby that are running in the Preakness are Arkansas Derby winner Muth, Santa Anita Derby runner-up Imagination, Louisiana Derby third-place finisher Tuscan Gold, Pat Day Mile winner Seize the Grey, Withers Stakes winner Uncle Heavy and Blue Grass fifth-place finisher Mugatu.

Copper Tax, the Federico Tesio winner, was still possible as of Sunday.

Entries close Monday and post positions will be assigned early Monday evening at a Baltimore restaurant.

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