Soaring Free
{{Short description|Canadian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse (1999–2025)}}
{{Infobox racehorse
| horsename = Soaring Free
| image =
| caption =
| sire = Smart Strike
| grandsire = Mr. Prospector
| dam = Dancing With Wings
| damsire = Danzig
| sex = Gelding
| foaled = {{Birth date|1999|1|28}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2025|5|28|1999|1|28}}
| death_place = Sam-Son Farm, Ocala, Florida, U.S.
| country = Canada
| colour = Dark Bay
| breeder = Sam-Son Farm
| owner = Sam-Son Farm
| trainer = Mark Frostad
| record = 27: 15-4-0
| earnings = $2,110,370http://www.pedigreequery.com/soaring+free Soaring Free's pedigree and partial racing stats
| race = Nearctic Stakes (2003)
Play The King Stakes (2003, 2004)
Atto Mile (2004)
Ontario Jockey Club Stakes (2004)
Shakertown Stakes (2004, 2005)
Highlander Stakes (2004, 2005)
| awards= Canadian Champion Sprinter (2003)
Canadian Champion Male Turf Horse (2004)
Canadian Horse of the Year (2004)http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/racing-news/2004/December/17/Soaring-Free-reigns-as-Canadas-Horse-of-the-Year.aspx December 17, 2004 Thoroughbred Times article on Soaring Free being voted Canada's 2004 Horse of the Year
| honours =
|updated=
}}
Soaring Free (January 28, 1999 – May 28, 2025) was a Canadian Champion Thoroughbred racehorse.
Background
Soaring Free was bred and raced by one of Canada's leading Thoroughbred operations, Sam-Son Farm. He was out of the mare Dancing With Wings, a daughter of three-time Champion Sire, Danzig. Soaring Free's sire is the increasingly influential Smart Strike who also sired Eclipse Award winner English Channel and the 2007 American Horse of the Year, Curlin.
A turf specialist who raced from a home base at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, at age four in 2003 Soaring Free won five of eight starts including the Nearctic Stakes plus his first of two Play The King Stakes.
Racing career
In 2004 he won the Grade III Shakertown Stakes at Keeneland Race Course in Kentucky and at Woodbine Racetrack set a North American record of 1:19.38 for 7 furlongs on turf in winning the Ontario Jockey Club Stakes.{{Cite web |title=ESPN.com - Horse Racing - Soaring Free sets record |url=https://www.espn.com/horse/news/2004/0724/1845887.html |access-date=2025-01-17 |website=www.espn.com}} Soaring Free also won his second straight Play The King Stakes in 2004 as well as the Highlander Stakes. He then earned the most important win of his career in race record time in the Grade I Atto Mile, a race in which he had finished second the previous year.{{cite web |url=http://www.ohria.com/news/index.html?id=04Sep20_1 |title=News |access-date=2008-01-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060107031353/http://www.ohria.com/news/index.html?id=04Sep20_1 |archive-date=2006-01-07 }} September 20th 2004 article by the Ontario Horse Racing Industry Association on Soaring Free winning the Atto Mile He ended the year, finishing fourth in the Breeders' Cup Mile, 2¼ lengths behind upset winner Singletary.
Racing at age six in 2005, Soaring Free won his second consecutive Shakertown Stakes at Keeneland Race Course and his second consecutive Highlander Stakes at Woodbine.
Death
Soaring Free died on May 28, 2025, at the age of 26. [https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/284792/canadian-horse-of-the-year-soaring-free-dies-at-age-26 Canadian Horse of the Year Soaring Free Dies at Age 26]