Soaring Free is a retired Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 Champion

Sovereign Award

The Sovereign Award is given annually since 1975 by the Jockey Club of Canada to the outstanding horses and people in Canadian Thoroughbred racing.The most prestigious award for horses is Sovereign Horse of the Year....

 Thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 racehorse

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

 who was bred and raced by one of Canada's leading Thoroughbred operations, Sam-Son Farm

Sam-Son Farm

Sam-Son Farm is a thoroughbred horse racing stable with farms locations in Milton, Ontario, Canada and Ocala, Florida. Originating in the 60's by Ernie Samuel, it began as a home for hunter/jumper horses...

. He was out of the mare Dancing With Wings, a daughter of three-time Champion Sire

Leading sire in North America

The list below shows the leading sire of Thoroughbred racehorses in North America for each year since 1830. This is determined by the amount of prizemoney won by the sire's progeny during the year...

, Danzig

Danzig (horse)

Danzig was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who is best known as a leading sire. He was purchased for $310,000 by Henryk de Kwiatkowski at the 1978 Saratoga Yearling Sale...

. Soaring Free's sire is the increasingly influential Smart Strike

Smart Strike

Smart Strike is a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse. The son of the Champion sire, Mr. Prospector, and out of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame mare Classy 'n Smart, Smart Strike is a half-brother to 1991 Canadian Triple Crown champion Dance Smartly.Owned and bred by Sam-Son Farm, on the...

 who also sired Eclipse Award winner English Channel

English Channel (horse)

English Channel is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Owned by James T. Scatuorchio and bred by Keene Ridge Farm, he was sired by Smart Strike out of the Theatrical mare Belva. In four years of racing, he competed in twenty three races, winning thirteen, finishing second in four, and finishing...

 and the 2007 American Horse of the Year, Curlin.

A turf

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

 specialist who raced from a home base at Woodbine Racetrack

Woodbine Racetrack

Woodbine Racetrack is a Canadian racetrack for Thoroughbred horse races located at 555 Rexdale Blvd. in the city of Toronto, Ontario. It is the only horseracing track in North America which stages, or is capable of staging, thoroughbred and standardbred horseracing programs on the same day...

 in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, at age four in 2003 Soaring Free won five of eight starts including the Nearctic Stakes

Nearctic Stakes

The Nearctic Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually in mid October at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. The Grade I sprint is raced on turf over a distance of six furlongs and currently offers a purse of $500,000....

 plus his first of two Play The King Stakes

Play The King Stakes

The Play the King Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. A Grade II sprint race, it is open to horses age three and older and is run over a distance of seven furlongs on turf...

.

In 2004 he won the Grade III Shakertown Stakes

Shakertown Stakes

The Shakertown Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in mid April at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. Raced on turf over a sprint distance of 5.5 furlongs, it is open to horses three years of age and older...

 at Keeneland Race Course in Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

 and at Woodbine Racetrack set a North American

North American

North American generally refers to an entity, people, group, or attribute of North America, especially of the United States and Canada together.-Culture:*North American English, a collective term used to describe American English and Canadian English...

 record of 1:19.38 for 7 furlong

Furlong

A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and U.S. customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile, equivalent to 220 yards, 660 feet, 40 rods, or 10 chains. The exact value of the furlong varies slightly among English-speaking countries....

s on turf

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

 in winning the Ontario Jockey Club Stakes. Soaring Free also won his second straight Play The King Stakes in 2004 as well as the Highlander Stakes

Highlander Stakes

The Highlander Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. Run in mid to late June, the Grade II race is open to horses aged three and older...

. He then earned the most important win of his career in race record time in the Grade I Atto Mile

Woodbine Mile

The Woodbine Mile is a Grade I stakes race on turf for Thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up held annually in mid September at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Canada...

, a race in which he had finished second the previous year. He ended the year, finishing fourth in the Breeders' Cup Mile

Breeders' Cup Mile

The Breeders' Cup Mile is a Grade 1 Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up, run on a grass course. It has been conducted annually as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships since the event's inception in 1984...

, 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.