Free House Given Free Rein in Win

By BILL CHRISTINE

March 7, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

As the stellar field for the 62nd Santa Anita Handicap assembled in the starting gate Saturday, Free House glanced to his right, in the direction of the crowd.

“It was his way of saying, ‘I’m here, everybody,’ ” said Trudy McCaffery, who owns Free House with longtime companion John Toffan. “It’s why the people love this horse. He has such charm.”

In this Big ‘Cap, the charmer Free House also had favored Silver Charm where he wanted him. For a change. Their extended rivalry, more than two years old, turned one-sided in the 1997 Triple Crown--Free House running gamely but never quite good enough--and when Silver Charm beat Free House last October in the Goodwood Handicap, it was the fourth consecutive race he had outrun the other gray.

Free House picked the right spot to put Silver Charm in his place. In a $1-million race with no speed horses, jockey Chris McCarron sent Free House to the lead, and but for a brief moment near the five-eighths pole, they stayed there. At the head of the stretch, Dr Fong dropped by the wayside. Silver Charm failed to kick in. Puerto Madero never threatened. And Event Of The Year’s best stretch effort wasn’t good enough. Free House beat him by half a length, propelling himself to the top of a topsy-turvy handicap division.

Silver Charm, who hasn’t won a Grade I race in the United States since the 1997 Preakness, ran third, beaten by one length. The rest of the field was more scattered. Dr Fong finished fourth, three lengths behind Silver Charm, and behind him came the disappointing Puerto Madero and Sidon.

Santa Anita has always been Silver Charm’s track, but Free House, who spends most of his training time across town at Hollywood Park, is also at home in Arcadia. The Big ‘Cap gave Free House his first win over Silver Charm since they ran 1-2 in the 1997 Santa Anita Derby. The score is now 5-3 in favor of Silver Charm.

Free House had won a $1-million race before, last summer’s Pacific Classic at Del Mar, but Silver Charm didn’t run, taking some of the gusto out of the cork-popping.

“We should have [beaten Silver Charm] in the Preakness, but we didn’t,” Toffan said Saturday. “Silver Charm’s been one of the top horses in North America for the last two years, so that means we beat a pretty good horse today.”

After the race, with Free House and McCarron greeted by warm applause from many in the crowd of 27,628 as they returned to the unsaddling area, McCaffery sought out Bob Baffert, Silver Charm’s trainer. At trackside, she thanked him for a tough race.

“The Pacific Classic was great, but this is a very special race,” McCaffery said later. “Our old gray has been around a long time. They’ve never given him any credit, but I just knew he was going to run huge.”

The first California-bred to win the Big ‘Cap since Best Pal in 1992, the 5-year-old Free House enjoyed leisurely fractions of :47 2/5 and 1:11 2/5 through the first six furlongs before completing 1 1/4 miles in 2:00 3/5. Bred by Toffan and McCaffery, the son of Smokester and Fountain Lake, the Vigors mare, paid $10.20 as the third choice. Free House’s ninth win in 21 starts was worth $600,000 and boosted his earnings to more than $3 million.

McCarron, who has been with Free House for his last four wins, also won the Big ‘Cap with Alysheba in 1988.

“When [Event Of The Year] decided not to [go for the lead], I assumed that position,” McCarron said. “I was very pleased that I was able to clear Silver Charm [on the rail] and drop over. I tapped him on the shoulder [in the stretch] and he just jumped forward, kind of like Alysheba did. I got the same feeling of acceleration. And, man, it’s fun when you get that feeling.”

Dr Fong, who usually runs farther back, kept Free House company on the front end, and got a head in front for a stride or two down the backside.

“Dr Fong messed us up,” Baffert said. “We had hoped to be on the lead, but every time Gary [Stevens] tried to go between Free House and Dr Fong, Dr Fong came over and closed the hole.”

Event Of The Year was also running on the outside of Silver Charm.

“We were trapped the whole way,” Baffert said. “But Free House ran a great race. When he shows up, he’s tough.”

Baffert made more of race tactics than Stevens did.

“I don’t have a lot of excuses,” Stevens said. “It was a great run by Free House and a great ride by McCarron. He dictated the pace and played cat and mouse with us throughout the race. I’m disappointed that we didn’t win, but I’m not disappointed with my horse’s effort.”

Event Of The Year, the Strub winner in February, was making only his ninth start. A knee injury the week before last year’s Kentucky Derby had sent him to the sidelines.

“He ran big, after blowing the first turn,” co-owner John Mabee said. “But for that he would have been a hell of a lot closer. Give the winner credit. Paco [Gonzalez] is a hell of a trainer.”

Gonzalez, the private trainer for Toffan and McCaffery, might have been jumping up and down at the finish, but there was no clapping. In early February, a few days before Free House won the San Antonio Handicap, his full brother, The Big Smoke, dumped Gonzalez during a morning gallop. The trainer, who’ll be 54 on March 17, broke his collarbone, went to the hospital and was back at the barn in a sling the next morning.

“I probably won’t be able to get on a horse again for a couple more weeks,” Gonzalez said. Then, smiling, he said: “There’s not much pain now.”

Puerto Madero, winner of the Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park in January, had never run at Santa Anita.

“[Before the race], it was like he was in a bottle, waiting to explode,” jockey Kent Desormeaux said. “But then he broke, ran for 40 yards, got into a canter and stayed in one.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

1. FREE HOUSE

Chris McCarron

Payoff:

$10.20 $5.20 $2.80

2. EVENT

OF THE YEAR

Corey Nakatani

Payoff:

$5.40 $2.80

3. SILVER CHARM

Gary Stevens