Girls Just Want to Have Fun
Sisters Kim Renee Stover and Lisa Osborne, breeders of Free Like a Girl, are enjoying an epic ride with the record-setting Louisiana-bred
By Denis Blake
Sisters Kim Renee Stover and Lisa Osborne have claimed trophies for their homebred, Louisiana Bred Champion at two, three and four, as well as 2022 Louisiana Horse of the Year.
Horse racing is filled with unbelievable and improbable stories, and one of the most unlikely of those started in Louisiana when a modestly bred gelding named John Henry kicked off his career in 1977 at Jefferson Downs near New Orleans and went on to rank among the most successful and popular racehorses ever. Now decades later, Louisiana has launched another fairy tale as Free Like a Girl has gone from attracting no bids at a sale to becoming the queen of Louisiana-breds as the state’s all-time leading earner.
In a time when many elite horses only make a handful of starts each year and might barely hit double digits for a career, Free Like a Girl has put up John Henry-like numbers from a bygone era. The 5-year-old mare has made 43 starts with 19 wins, 11 seconds and six thirds while banking $1,979,978. Chances are she’ll become the first Louisiana-bred to hit the $2-million mark in her next start.
Those are some incredible figures considering that Free Like a Girl’s dam, Flashy Prize, didn’t even get a bid at the 2018 Equine Sales of Louisiana Open Yearling and Mixed Sale. Even though the two-time winner by Flashy Bull was carrying an El Deal foal who would end up being Free Like a Girl, not a single head nod nor hand wave came from the crowd.
But thanks to some astute advice, Kim Renee Stover and her sister Lisa Osborne ended up buying that mare and her unborn foal for $500. They even got a free halter out of the deal.
For a mere $500, sisters Kim Renee Stover and Lisa Osborne purchased Flashy Prize in foal to El Deal. The resulting filly, Free Like A Girl is now the all time top earning Louisiana bred with earnings nearing $2,000,000.
Flashy Prize, dam of Free Like A Girl, and 2023 Louisiana Broodmare of the Year.
“I was at the sale and my sister calls me and says let’s go in as partners on a mare,” Kim recalled. “I’ve never been a partner with my sister on a horse, but I’ve done it with others, so I said OK. The sale was halfway over, and I had picked out three mares. I was working for Paul Pruett, and he’s very knowledgeable. So I showed him the three mares, and he said, ‘No, no and no,’ and flips the catalog back to the horses who have already gone through the sale, and he said to go find out what they want for this mare. I said, ‘Paul, she already went through the sale, why would I want a horse nobody bid on?’ He told me this is the mare you need.
“I’ve known Paul for 30 years, and he’s very good at what he does, so I went to (consignor) Jay Adcock and asked what he wanted,” Kim continued. “He said $500, so I said, ‘OK, but I don’t have a halter,’ so he gave me one.”
Free Like a Girl was foaled February 24, 2019, and raised at Kim’s farm in Starks in the Southwest portion of the state. The sisters put the filly in the next year’s Equine Sales Yearling Sale and were thrilled that she sold for $5,500 to Gerald Bruno. A return of 11 times their original investment was not bad at all, especially since they still had Flashy Prize.
“We thought we hit the jackpot,” said Kim with a laugh. “We bought the mare for $500 and sold the baby for $5,500. We thought it was unbelievable that we made so much money and still had the mare.”
If you think they regret selling a near $2-million earner for $5,500, you’d be wrong.
The sisters count themselves as lucky, blessed and thankful that Free Like a Girl came into their lives, if only for a short while under their ownership. Thanks to the lucrative breeders’ awards program in Louisiana, the sisters still profit handsomely when Free Like a Girl does her thing on the track. And they hit a nice payday this year when they sold her Louisiana-bred full brother for a sale-topping price of $150,000 at the Texas Summer Yearling Sale at Lone Star Park.
Flashy Prize is currently in foal again to El Deal, a Grade 1-winning son of Munnings who stands at Adcock’s Red River Farms near Coushatta.
The sisters are hoping for a filly, who would be a full sister to Free Like a Girl. If their hope turns into reality, they will likely lease out the filly to run on the track so they can retain ownership of her as a broodmare. As for next breeding season, the sisters are planning to go all in on the old Thoroughbred axiom of breeding the “best to the best.”
“We will probably go to Star Guitar,” said Kim. “He’s been the leading stud for so many years, and Free Like a Girl just passed him as the all-time leading Louisiana-bred earner, so I feel like we need to breed to him.”
With 19 career wins, it’s hard for Kim or Lisa to pick a favorite victory, but they each have one that is extra special.
“When she was 2-year-old at Delta Downs in the Louisiana Jewel, it was on my birthday, and she won it by 18 ½ lengths,” said Kim. “When she took off, I saw her and I didn’t know where all the other horses went. All of her wins are my favorite, but I have that one on my phone so I can always show it to people who ask about her.”
For Lisa, her favorite is one of the few wins that neither of the sisters were able to attend in person.
“Our mother passed away in early August and she was from West Virginia, so to win the big race at Charles Town was perfect,” said Lisa about the victory in the $500,000 Misty Bennett Pink Ribbon Stakes on August 23 at the West Virginia track. “I have that race put to John Denver’s ‘Almost Heaven’ (‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’). That race is my race.
“(Trainer) Chasey (Pomier) sent me a photo from Charles Town, and she’s standing on the track looking up to the sky, and it’s just a gorgeous picture,” added Lisa.
While most of Free Like a Girl’s wins have come in Louisiana, with six at Delta Downs, five at both Fair Grounds and Evangeline Downs, and one at Louisiana Downs, she has represented Louisiana-breds with aplomb on the road for owners Gerald Bruno Jr. and Jerry Caroom and co-owner/trainer Chasey Deville Pomier.
Free Like a Girl has hit the board in a total of six graded stakes, including consecutive Grade 1 races earlier this year. First, she ran third behind multiple Grade 1 winner Adare Manor in the $1.25 million Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park, and then she gamely chased 2023 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) winner Idiomatic to finish second in the $1 million Fasig-Tipton La Troienne Stakes at Churchill Downs.
There is one problem, however, with breeding a horse with 19 wins and counting—wall space.
“I’m running out of space for the win photos,” said Lisa.
The sisters also had to make room for the 2023 LTBA Broodmare of the Year Award earned by Flashy Prize. And Free Like a Girl has brought her owners quite an award haul as 2023 Champion Older Female, 2022 Horse of the Year and Champion 3-Year-Old Filly, and 2021 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly.
While the two sisters are listed as co-breeders of Free Like a Girl, they have since added a third partner to the ownership of Flashy Prize to make it a multi-generational partnership.
“We bred her back after Free Like a Girl was born, and my niece said she wanted to be part of it, too,” said Kim. “And Free Like a Girl hadn’t even raced or been sold yet, so we said OK, we’ll give you a third but that means you have to pay a third of the expenses.
“So maybe we regret that a little,” she said with a laugh.
Kim is a former jockey who runs the farm operation, while Lisa is an X-ray technician, and her daughter Lacey Chretien is a respiratory therapist. The sisters both grew up with horses, and Lacey is a barrel racer, so all things equine are something that runs in the family.
For Kim, it’s been a long journey to transition from riding horses to breeding and raising them. A successful jockey on both Thoroughbreds and American Quarter Horses, she sustained very serious injuries in 2006 race at Evangeline Downs and faced extensive rehabilitation.
“It was a brain injury and don’t remember racing,” she said. “I was the 11th female to win 1,000 races, but I don’t remember riding a horse, so it’s not like I’m missing that part of it, but I do like this aspect of racing and it’s still in my blood.”
With Kim busy on the farm and the other two with “regular” jobs, the trio is appreciative of the communication they get from Free Like a Girl’s owners and trainer.
“They have been great and kept in contact,” said Lisa. “For me to take off (to go watch her race), I need to have notice, and so we are so thankful.”
The sisters also return the favor with a little treat for the mare’s connections after each win.
“My sister makes a cheesecake that my mother was known for,” said Lisa. “Every time she wins a race, my sister makes the barn my mother’s cheesecake, so they are on their 19th cheesecake. We said we can make other cakes too, because our mom was a phenomenal baker, and they are like no, this is good. We want the cheesecake.”
Although not an official partner, the team now has another generation who is just as enthusiastic about watching Free Like a Girl run.
“I missed her last win because we were at Disney World with my little grandbaby who just turned two, so we were watching it on our phone and people thought we were crazy because we were so excited,” said Lisa. “Even my grandbaby will say, ‘Go Desi, go Desi, go Desi,’ because she’s watched us do it for two years.”
The nickname Desi comes from the sisters’ mother, so four generations have been a part of the thrilling run.
“We don’t name our racehorses, but we have nicknames,” said Lisa. “And apparently she was born on Desi Arnaz Jr.’s birthday, so my mom came up with that name. So to us, she’s Desi.”
The sisters know that breeding a horse like Free Like a Girl is not likely to happen again, and they are OK with that, too.
“People tell us she’s a once-in-a-lifetime horse, and she’s all I can handle!” said Kim.
“If it hadn’t been for Paul Pruett, this wouldn’t have happened,” said Lisa. “And we are also thankful to Jay Adcock and to her owners and trainers.
“We’ve been having a blast; there really are no words for this,” added Lisa. “Sometimes these unknown mares can do great things.”
Free Like A Girl eclipsed Star Guitar as the all time top earning Louisiana bred, pictured winning the 2024 $100,000 Shantel Lanerie Memorial Stakes. Hodges photo.