Kentucky Derby: Albaugh looks to have its best chance yet

Some owners invest heavily and chase the Kentucky Derby dream for a lifetime without ever experiencing the electricity of competing on the first Saturday in May. In stark contrast, Albaugh Family Stables is getting there with remarkable regularity.

Catching Freedom is set to be the eighth Derby starter since 2016 for the Iowa-based operation, one that stands apart from other major players by keeping its numbers relatively small and bucking the current trend by generally avoiding partnerships.

Racing manager Jason Loutsch, son-in-law to 74-year-old family patriarch Dennis Albaugh, reflected on the start of the run with Brody’s Cause in 2016 and J Boys Echo in 2017. “The first couple of years, I was thinking, ‘We’re the luckiest ever. How can we be so lucky?’ But as I look back at it, a lot of credit goes to our team and our system,” Loutsch said.

They are open to other sales, but they concentrate most of their effort on Fasig-Tipton’s sale of select yearlings each August in Saratoga and Keeneland’s September yearling sale. As soon as those catalogs become available, Loutsch and boyhood friend Ryan Pezzetti go to work on the pedigree side with a laser focus on colts who have the bloodlines to handle two turns.

As for the system they employ, that always will remain a family secret. In discussing the evaluation of each prospect en route to the annual purchase of 12 to 15 yearlings, Loutsch would say only, “there are hoops we need to get through.” Their willingness to be painstaking as they evaluate hundreds of yearlings is no secret.

“We prepare for months before the sales. We’re the first to get there and the last to leave the sales,” the racing manager said. “We work hard. I can’t thank our team enough for all of the hard work they put into it.”

Barry Berkelhammer, who plays a key role as their bloodstock agent, describes the evaluation of yearlings as an “art form.”

“Obviously, to get to the first Saturday in May you have to win some races to qualify,” he noted. “So you have to have 2-year-olds that have got some precocious nature about them.”

Angel of Empire serves as a prime example of the thoroughness of Albaugh’s approach. The Pennsylvania-bred son of Classic Empire was purchased for a relatively modest $70,000 at the Keeneland September sale.

With the scratch of 2-year-old champion Forte, the Arkansas Derby winner went off as the favorite in last year’s Derby and ran an impressive race, missing by a length and a half to upstart Mage for Albaugh’s strongest finish.

Dennis Albaugh’s affinity for Constitution led them to step out while going it alone for Catching Freedom. They went to $575,000 to secure him at Keeneland’s September yearling sale and eventually turned him over to Brad Cox, a Louisville native who has won the Eclipse Award twice as North America’s top trainer.

Catching Freedom stamped himself as one of the ones to beat when he staged a prolonged rally for jockey Flavien Prat to defeat Honor Marie by one length in the March 23 Louisiana Derby (G2). In handling the 1 3/16-mile contest with aplomb, he earned his third victory in five starts and hiked his earnings to $877,350.

Catching Freedom might be the 3-year-old that breaks through for Albaugh. “Any time you win a prep race like the Louisiana Derby, you go in with a lot of confidence because you beat quality, quality horses,” Loutsch said. “He’s done really well since the Louisiana Derby, so it’s really exciting.”

Catching Freedom showed his readiness for the biggest race of his life when he zipped five furlongs in 59.2 seconds April 27 at Churchill Downs. He ranked second of 58 workers at the distance in his final Derby drill.

Loutsch expects the Kentucky Derby to play out very differently from what transpired in Louisiana, where Catching Freedom was left with much to do. “I think we’re going to break a lot sharper than we did in the Louisiana Derby. That wasn’t the plan to stay that far back,” he said. “I think he will sit mid-pack. Hopefully, we’ll get a clear run. When he’s asked to go, I think he’ll make a big run.”

As for the critical question of whether Catching Freedom can last the testing mile and a quarter, Loutsch said, “that is one thing we don’t have to worry about.”

Albaugh is that sure of its system and its process.