Ageless, Free as a Bird face off again in Franklin County

Last updated: 10/7/14 3:46 PM

Ageless will try to make it a sweep of Keeneland’s leading turf sprints for fillies and mares

(Keeneland/Coady Photography)

Separated by less than a length after 5 1/2 furlongs in the Giant’s Causeway
last April, Ageless and Free as a Bird will meet again over the Keeneland turf
Friday in the $100,000
Franklin County, a dash for fillies and mares that
attracted a full field of 14 plus two also-eligibles.

Ageless was an 8-1 chance when she defeated the 9-1 Free as a Bird by
three-quarters of a length on April 19, and both mares have gone undefeated on
turf since then. Ageless followed up her win with scores in the $100,000 The
Very One at Pimlico and in the Royal North, a six-furlong, Grade 3 event at
Woodbine. Switched to Tapeta for her most recent start, the Arnaud Delacour
trainee finished third of 10 in the Presque Isle Downs Masters.

Free as Bird has reeled off four straight stakes wins for trainer Ian Wilkes,
taking the License Fee and Intercontinental at Belmont Park, followed by the
Caress and Smart and Fancy at Saratoga, all worth $100,000.

As can be deciphered by the size of the field, the Franklin County is hardly
a two-horse race, even in the figurative sense. Quality Lass invades from Parx,
where she landed the $200,000 Turf Amazon Handicap over five furlongs on Labor
Day. Multiple stakes-winning veteran Sweet Cassiopeia is another familiar face
among Keeneland regulars, who saw her win the 2013 Giant’s Causeway and finish
third behind Ageless and Free as a Bird in her bid to repeat in April.

Sky Treasure, second to Ageless in the July 22 Royal North, exits a sharp
allowance win over the Woodbine turf. Multiple stakes winners Eden Prairie and
Flower Spell also look like serious contenders, as does Jewel of a Cat, who was
beaten by narrow margins in the Caress and Turf Amazon.

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