Horse Profile - Free Drop Billy

Albaugh Family Stable acquired Free Drop Billy as a yearling at the 2016 Keeneland September sale for $200,000. He was immediately dispatched to trainer Dale Romans, who has capitalized on the colt’s strong pedigree to produce a top contender.

In fact, Free Drop Billy is well on the way to living up to the same hype his sire Union Rags had to endure. Union Rags won the 2011 Saratoga Special and Champagne Stakes while finishing second to Hansen in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. He would go on to place 1st in the 2012 Fountain of Youth Stakes, 3rd in the Florida Derby and 7th in the Kentucky Derby in a race won by I’ll Have Another. Weeks later, Union Rags took advantage of I’ll Have Another’s absence and won the 2012 Belmont Stakes.

Free Drop Billy won his maiden in June before finishing second to Firenze Fire in the 2017 Sanford Stakes. He then ran a close second to Sporting Chance in the 2017 Hopeful Stakes. Both races showed that Free Drop Billy was probably more capable at longer distances, and he had his chance to showcase his skills over a mile in the 2017 Breeders’ Futurity.

Going off as a steady 3/2 favorite against a relatively lackluster field, Free Drop Billy proved that he was better at distances over a mile than he was at sprints. The colt won with grace and poise as he stormed the homestretch to earn the victory by four convincing lengths.

This was the assumption of trainer Dale Romans and his connections and it was proven true as he galloped out to a four length victory. "If you look at all his numbers on paper, every time they stretched a race a bit, he got a little bit better. Today I think we saw what he is really capable of."

One of the unique characteristics of Free Drop Billy is his propensity to lather prior to a race. It’s not the best look for a two-year-old contender, but Dale Romans seems to have no problem with it. "I'd rather him not do that, but he does it, and that's just him." 

In four starts, Free Drop Billy is 2-2-0 with $428,000 in career earnings.

Learn more about Free Drop Bily with these indepth stories:

BULL: Kentucky Derby Horse Profile: Free Drop Billy

BULL: Kentucky Derby Pedigree Profile: Free Drop Billy

REILLY: Free Drop Billy dominates Breeders’ Futurity