Triple Crown runner Free Drop Billy likely to try turf next
Free Drop Billy, last seen running seventh in the Belmont Stakes, is expected to make his next start on turf assuming he breezes well over the grass, said Jason Loutsch, racing manager for owner Albaugh Family Stables.
Loutsch mentioned as options Arlington Park’s Grade 1 Secretariat, a $400,000 race on the Aug. 11 Arlington Million card, as well as turf stakes during Saratoga’s upcoming meet.
The son of Union Rags is a Grade 1 winner on dirt having taken Keeneland’s Breeders’ Futurity last October. And just before Free Drop Billy’s 16th-place Kentucky Derby run in May, a breeding deal with Spendthrift Farm was finalized.
“I did extend out to them and tell them,” Loutsch said, “‘If you guys have any ideas, feel free to offer them of the amount of respect I have for you. We want to do what’s best for your farm and your organization.’ They did ask us if we could run him on the turf.”
The Dale Romans-trained Free Drop Billy is out of the Giant’s Causeway mare Trensa, who also produced 5-year-old Hawkbill. That horse won the Dubai Sheema Classic (G1) on the turf earlier this year at Meydan and continues to compete in top grass stakes in Europe.
“We feel like the breeding’s there on the mother’s side,” Loutsch said. “Union Rags probably isn’t a stellar turf sire, but the mom has obviously thrown some great offspring. We’re going to give it a try and see if we can help Spendthrift out as far as, can he be a stakes winner on both surfaces? That would be huge.”
Free Drop Billy is expected to post his first work since the Belmont this weekend, Loutsch said, after which he’ll discuss with Romans a more precise schedule.
Albaugh Family Stables also has 3-year-olds Dak Attack and Hollywood Star back in training with Romans. He conditions 4-year-old J Boys Echo, a 2017 Derby runner, too.
“We’ll be looking for a full fall schedule for all three of those. We’re excited, especially for Dak Attack,” Loutsch said of last year’s Ellis Park Juvenile winner. “He was our ‘A’ player coming into the season, and I think he’s going to do some good things.”