Albaugh Family Stables

Angel of Empire (Classic Empire--Armony's Angel, by To Honor and Serve), who took home the GI Arkansas Derby, has been retired and will join the roster at Taylor Made Stallions for the upcoming breeding season, according to a press release from the farm on Wednesday. The 4-year-old, who last raced in 2023 when he finished third in the GII Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga, will stand for $7,500 LFSN. Breeders will have an opportunity to earn a lifetime breeding right to the millionaire earner of more than $1.4 million. "We're...

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. There was a fair bit of steam behind Admiral Dennis (c, 2, Constitution--Gulf Coast, by Union Rags) as he entered the starting gate first time out for trainer Brad Cox in a deep maiden special weight at Churchill Downs Sept. 19. There will be even more next time. Off as the 5-2 favorite, the Albaugh Family Stables colorbearer broke in at the start and was outsprinted in...

The field for the GI Preakness S., ranked in "likeliest winner" order: 1) MYSTIK DAN (c, Goldencents--Ma'am, by Colonel John). O/B-Lance Gasaway, Daniel Hamby, 4G Racing, LLC, & Valley View Farm LLC (Ky); T-Kenneth G. McPeek. Lifetime Record: GISW, 7-3-1-1, $3,650,050. Last start: WON May 4 GI Kentucky Derby. The Derby champ will go favored in the Preakness on Saturday after the scratch of 'TDN Rising Star' Muth (Good Magic). This son of Goldencents upset the first leg of the Triple Crown at 18-1 odds. In the last three Derbies,...

Albaugh Family Stables's Catching Freedom (Constitution), the GI Kentucky Derby fourth-place finisher, is slated to enter Saturday's $2 million GI Preakness S. at Pimlico Race Course, trainer Brad Cox said Sunday morning via a 1/ST Racing press release. Cox's initial reaction was not to run the colt back in two weeks after the hard race the GII Louisiana Derby winner had under the Twin Spires, in which he finished less than two lengths behind victorious Mystik Dan (Goldencents). However, Catching Freedom has been training so well at Churchill Downs that...

When it comes to getting horses to the GI Kentucky Derby few have done more with less. Dennis Albaugh's Albaugh Family Stable doesn't have nearly the numbers of a Mike Repole or the partnership of SF Racing, Starlight Racing, and Madaket Stables, but he keeps coming up with Derby starters. This year he has Catching Freedom (Constitution), the winner of the GII Louisiana Derby, who will be his tenth starter under the Twin Spires over the last seven years. The goal this time around is not to simply make into...

Albaugh Family Stable's GII TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby winner Catching Freedom (Constitution) began his preparations for the GI Kentucky Derby with a half-mile move in :48.40 early Friday morning at Churchill Downs, the track said in a release. Trained by Brad Cox, the 3-year-old worked at 5:30 a.m. ET with exercise rider Edvin Vargas in the saddle. The duo cruised through an opening quarter-mile in :24 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:01.20. "He's settled in nicely since we shipped him back to Churchill from Fair Grounds," Cox said. "He was...

Albaugh Family Stables' Catching Freedom, the 8-5 favorite, kicked off his sophomore campaign in style with a late-running victory in the Smarty Jones S. at Oaklawn Park Monday. Favored for his third-straight start, the bay colt was unhurried early Monday and settled well off the pace behind fractions of :23.02 and :47.01. He inched closer along the rail on the far turn, tipped out for running room approaching the stretch and rolled up four wide into the lane. Just to his inside off the turn was Just Steel (Justify), who...

Angel of Empire (Classic Empire), a powerful winner of this spring's GI Arkansas Derby and a rallying third as the favorite in the GI Kentucky Derby, has returned to training at WinStar Training Center and is expected to rejoin trainer Brad Cox at either Fair Grounds or Oaklawn Park within the next month. The Albaugh Family Stables colorbearer was given a freshening after concluding his six-race sophomore campaign with a dead-heat fourth-place finish in the GI Belmont S. June 10 and a close third-place finish in a roughly run renewal...

4th-Churchill Downs, $120,000, Msw, 10-1, 2yo, 1m, 1:36.58, ft, 3 3/4 lengths. CATCHING FREEDOM (c, 2, Constitution--Catch My Drift {SW & GISP, $280,540}, by Pioneerof the Nile) was well-backed for this one-turn mile debut as the even-money favorite here. Situated midfield, the hooded bay colt chased the pace up set by Cash Only (Street Sense) up the backstretch, came under a ride by tipping to the outside around the far turn and showing steady progress at the eighth pole, Catching Freedom graduated by 3 3/4 lengths over the leader. The...

A share in leading sire Not This Time figures to provide some fireworks when it kicks off the action Tuesday night at Saratoga. The sale of the share is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Not This Time is the sire of five Grade I winners from three crops to race, and is the leading fourth-crop sire of 2023. The share includes all projected income from the 2023 breeding season. Shareholders receive one nomination annually, plus their proportional share of the excess book. (See complete details here.) Not This Time is governed...

Leslie and Pierre Amestoy and Roger Beasley's Practical Move (Practical Joke) will be scratched from GI Kentucky Derby 149 due to an elevated temperature, according to trainer Tim Yakteen. With the scratch of Practical Move, Albaugh Family Stables' Cyclone Mischief (Into Mischief), who is trained by Dale Romans, will draw into the field and break from the outside post 20, but his program number will remain the same as No. 21, Churchill Downs said in a release on Thursday afternoon. "You have to be in it to win it," Romans...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - TDN Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of leading GI Kentucky Derby contenders to get their 'Early Impressions.' Albaugh Family Stables purchased a total of nine yearlings either alone or in partnership out of the 2021 Keeneland September Sale for a total of $3.37 million. Two of them have made the 20-horse field for the Kentucky Derby and a third will need a scratch to draw into the body of the field. Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) punched his ticket to Louisville following...