Kentucky Derby Alumni Update: Hit Show and Catching Freedom
Jan 29, 2025
Catching Freedom wins the Louisiana Derby (G2) at Fair Grounds (Photo by Hodges Photography / Credit to Lou Hodges, Jr.)
Hit Show and Catching Freedom—stablemates and Kentucky Derby alumni—are back on track in 2025, looking to add Grade 1 wins to their resumes. They are conditioned by Louisville native Brad Cox, a two-time Eclipse Award winner as the country's outstanding trainer.
Hit Show made a splash—literally—opening his 2025 campaign, rallying from last to first in the Louisiana S. (G3) over a sloppy track. He prepped for the race at Payson Park Training Center in Florida, working in company with Kentucky Derby hopeful Patch Adams.
“He responded well,” Cox said. “Hopefully he can pick off a Grade 1 later this year. I always thought he was a horse with top talent.”
Jockey Florent Geroux, who had the mount on Hit Show for six of his eight starts, has similar goals for the horse.
“It looks like he runs for me, and I like him too,” Geroux said. “He’s always honest in races and always tries on any kind of track, he doesn't care. This horse likes to do his job. He’s the type of horse that deserves a Grade 1 next to his name.”
Hit Show finished fifth in the 2023 Kentucky Derby. He earned his berth by winning the Withers S. (G3) and subsequently finishing second, by a nose, in the Wood Memorial S. (G2). After the Derby, he ran fourth in the Belmont S. (G1) and then was unplaced in the Jim Dandy S. (G2) and Oklahoma Derby (G3).
Mystik Dan in a THRILLING photo finish to win the G1 Kentucky Derby! #KyDerby
— Kentucky Derby (@KentuckyDerby) May 4, 2024
His career reignited in 2024, with consecutive victories in the West Virginia Governor’s S. (G3), Lukas Classic S. (G2), and Hagyard Fayette S. (G2). He finished the year in the Clark H. (G2), where he crossed the wire third but was disqualified to fifth for interference in the stretch.
Catching Freedom has also been working at Payson Park Training Center, prepping for his 4-year-old debut. The bay colt was a credible fourth in the 2024 Kentucky Derby, crossing the wire 1 3/4 lengths behind the photo finish of Mystik Dan, Sierra Leone, and Forever Young.
After the Derby, Cox said, “Overall, I was very happy with Catching Freedom’s effort, I really was, and the ride Flavien (Prat) gave him.”
Catching Freedom secured his spot in the Kentucky Derby rallying from last to first in the Louisiana Derby (G2). He has only raced twice since the Run for the Roses: finishing third in the Preakness S. (G1) and fourth in the Ohio Derby (G3).
Cox has not announced the target for the colt’s next start, but he has been active on the work tab since the end of November.
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