Orange Freeze and Joel Rosario fly to the finish of Wednesday’s NYSS Statue of Liberty at Saratoga Race Course. Susie Raisher/NYRA Photo.
By Tom Law
Bill Morey didn’t claim Orange Freeze with the intent to run the Freud filly back in any specific spot. But he certainly gave Wednesday’s $150,000 Statue of Liberty division of the New York Stallion Series Stakes at Saratoga Race Course a thought.
“I wouldn’t say it was the reason for the claim, but it’s always in the back of your mind,” Morey said. “If you do claim a New York-sired horse, you know you have this option.”
The option proved a winner as Orange Freeze, making her first start since being claimed for $40,000 June 23, rolled to a powerful victory over eight opponents in the Statue of Liberty. Joel Rosario rode the winner of Morey, who also owns the filly out of the Birdstone mare Hoopskirt.
Orange Freeze, who won her state-bred maiden claiming event by 3 ¾ lengths for Christophe Clement and owner Madaket Stable when Morey dropped the claim slip, won the Statue of Liberty by 1 1/2 lengths over Bernt Again in 1:37.75 for the mile on good inner turf course.
“She had consistent form and it looked like maybe she was on the improve a little bit,” said Morey, who owns the filly. “Going down the backside, I was pretty confident. Both of my fillies started moving and I thought those fillies [Queens Over Threes and Mz Big Bucks] were going to come back. I saw one go inside, one go outside and it was perfect.”
Bernt Again, a daughter of Honorable Dillon coming off back-to-back wins, finished 3 lengths ahead of the War Dancer filly Mz Big Bucks with the Morey-trained Redesdale filly Red Moon third. Little Linzee, Bea Bea Kaz, Clover Street, Camp Akeela and Queens Over Threes completed the field.
Bred by Thummp’s Racing Stable LLC and foaled at Gallagher’s Stud in Ghent, Orange Freeze originally sold for $112,000 to Smokestack Lightning at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale. She’s one of three winners out of Hoopskirt, who won six of 40 starts with 10 seconds and three thirds for $158,028.
Hoopskirt is also the dam of the winning New York-bred Afleet Alex gelding Farragut, who earned $104,220; and the winning New York-bred Majestic City mare Dutchess of N Y.
She is also the dam of Orange Freeze’s unraced 2-year-old full brother Clinical Decision, who sold as a weanling to Reeves Thoroughbred Racing for $100,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga October mixed sale. Clinical Decision breezed 3 furlongs Tuesday in :39.83 on Saratoga’s main track.
Hoopskirt is also the dam of two other full brothers to Orange Freeze – a yearling and a weanling foaled May 10. Sequel Thoroughbreds and Thummps Racing Stable bred the yearling and Thummps Racing Stable bred the weanling.
Freud, a 25-year-old son of Storm Cat and full brother to Giant’s Causeway, stands privately at Sequel Stallions New York in Hudson. He came in Wednesday fifth on the New York general sire list, a table he topped six times including a run from 2016 to 2019.
Morey celebrated a pair of victories Wednesday at Saratoga, the first two of his career that features 1,815 through Wednesday. He also won the third race with Golden Dagger and finished second in the ninth with Cadencia.
The win off the claim made in the Statue of Liberty was worth $90,000 and boosted Orange Freeze’s earnings to $131,730 from a record of 2-1-1 in six starts.
“We did win a shake [to claim Orange Freeze],” Morey said. “I was in a 14-way shake the other day, I was in a nine-way today. It’s a part of the claiming game, there’s a lot of luck involved. But the good thing is with these New York-breds and New York-sired specifically, you have the chance to catch one like this and we got lucky.
