HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Free Like a Girl could be making the penultimate start of her career Saturday in the Grade 2, $400,000 Azeri Stakes at Oaklawn Park, according to co-owner and trainer Chasey Deville Pomier.
Free Like a Girl ranks as the all-time-leading earner among Louisiana-breds. She has won 21 of 48 starts for earnings of $2,173,438. Free Like a Girl enters the Azeri off a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Bayakoa, beaten a head in the Feb. 1 race at Oaklawn. She is shipping back to Arkansas from Delta Downs.
Deville Pomier said the partnership that races Free Like a Girl has made no concrete decisions about the future of the mare, who is a 6-year-old by El Deal.
“I go race to race,” Deville Pomier said. “We have this one kind of on the schedule. We’re trying to just get that graded stakes win that she really deserves, if we can. I think we have two more on the docket, the Azeri and one more after that.
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“If we run well here, we may go back to the Apple Blossom and try to go out with a bang. We’re trying to get that last achievement, if we can. We only have a couple on the schedule that we’re trying to make, but anything can change at any time with her.”
Deville Pomier said the partnership has had some limited conversations on potential stallion choices for Free Like a Girl.
“She nicks very well with Into Mischief and Curlin,” Deville Pomier said.
Another decision to be made in time is whether or not the partnership will keep all or a piece of a broodmare version of Free Like a Girl.
“That’s also in question,” Deville Pomier said. “We want to do what’s best for her. We’re not necessarily selling, but we want to make sure she has the best opportunities for her.”
Right now, Deville Pomier is simply focused on Saturday’s race, but she is starting to prepare herself for barn life without Free Like a Girl, whom she has trained since she was 2.
“I’ve never seen a horse like her,” said Deville Pomier, who has grown up in racing as the daughter of trainer Carl Deville. “She goes out there, does her thing. She’s so competitive, loves her job so much.
“I told them if we don’t need a stall, that first stall might stay open for quite a bit.”
Deville Pomier, who will have a division of horses this meet at Evangeline Downs, has put in stall applications for upcoming meets at Keeneland and Churchill Downs. She is looking to bring about 10 horses, and the string may or may not include Free Like a Girl.
“It’s going to be tough when she has to leave,” Deville Pomier said. “If she goes to Kentucky to be a momma, we have to make trips [to see her]. We put in some stall apps to go to Kentucky this year because I really do like this set of babies, and we have a couple of older horses that can compete up there.
“We’re just going to go with her!”
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