Big price for Free paying off

June 14, 2007

Kelvin Harrison might have had a few reservations about arranging the purchase of Free for $200,000 one month ago, but they were quashed when she rolled to a 1:49.2 victory last week in the mares open at the Meadowlands, and she'll bid for a repeat in the $46,500 mares open on Friday night.

Free is listed at 3-1 on the morning line from post two in the evening�s eighth race. David Miller has the driving assignment.

Harrison, a New Zealand transplant who trains a stable at Winner�s International in Chesterfield, N.J., got a call about the 4-year-old mare from Illinois-based horse agent Brian Walkington earlier this year. She was racing for trainer Stanley Miller in Chicago and had banked more than $250,000, while winning 19 of her races. Harrison contacted his longtime partner Joseph Alflen of Redondo Beach, Calif., and a private purchase was arranged on May 5, 2007.

�Even though this might seem like the season for 4 year olds in this division, one of my concerns about buying her was not all of those mares tend to make that jump into the older ranks,� Harrison said. �Joe [Alflen] was looking to buy a nice horse and we put together this deal. We had her vetted out and Joe usually never buys what I go there to check out, but not this time. Maybe he got tired of turning me down. We gave $200,000 for her.

�When you go looking for a top colt, they�re too hard to find,� he continued. �If you can buy one, they�re usually way more money. Free is a mare who can hopefully go at the top level, and every week she can be a contender going for good money. I also told Joe it�s not like when the Meadowlands closes, you�re finished. You�re going to go for $35,000 at Yonkers and at least that at Chester Downs. You have a chance to get yourself out even if she�s not quite at the top level. She was very consistent, a hard hitter and it looked like she could dance every dance.�

The daughter of Armbro Mackintosh has been a model of consistency over the past two years, finishing first or second in 27 of 30 starts. She has won three of six starts in 2007. Her victory last Friday night was the first since she made her Meadowlands debut for Harrison on May 18. Driven by David Miller, she moved first-over to put away the pacesetter with a furlong to go and pulled away to a two and a quarter-length win over Ideal Weather in career best 1:49.2.

�She�s improved since she�s been here, yet she won�t go an ounce by herself,� Harrison said. �She raced a couple of times on the front here, they were tough races for her and, believe me, she�s terrible that way. I told Dave [Miller], if you get caught first over with her, just sit and ride with her. She�ll go with anybody right to the wire. If she clears, she�ll pull herself up and you have to chase her. She might�ve won first-over in 1:49.2 last week, but that was her easiest race so far. If you race a horse the way they like it you can get away with putting them in every seven days week after week.

�She�s not staked to anything here, but she has some stakes in Illinois,� he added. �If she shapes up good, I can put her in the Breeders Crown. The last time I did that, I spent $40,000 and Frightening P drew the 10-hole.�

Harrison, 57, came to the States in 1972 is no stranger to good horses, many of which have been Down Under imports.

�Back in, I believe, 1974 when I was coming over to America with horses from Down Under, we once had 53 head on one plane,� he recalled. �One time, we had a bunch of them, including Young Quinn, and we overshot the runway at Kennedy Airport. Now that was quite a feeling. They�re still bringing them over because there�s obviously a big market for racehorses.�

He and Alflen partnered up 20 years ago and have had a string of top flight pacers together.

�Joe and I have been together since the eighties,� he said. �We had Dare You To [1:50.4, $755,729], Direct Flight [1:51, $825,052] and Falcon�s Icon [1:50.4, $406,176]. He�s semi-retired now and he was in the auto dealership industry. I was home one day back then and the phone rang. He asked me if I was taking any horses and I had too many at the time. Then, he told me the horse was Dare You To, so I told him to send him on and the rest is history. He�s like a brother to me.� (Meadowlands press release)

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