Champions Nyquist, Songbird Top Experimental Handicap

Experimental Free Handciap highweight Nyquist, pictured winning the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. (Photos by Eclipse Sportswire)
By Ron Mitchell, @BH_RMitchell
Champion colt Nyquist was assigned high weight of 126 pounds to top The Jockey Club's 2015 Experimental Free Handicap and champion Songbird was the second-highest overall and highest-weighted filly with 125 pounds, the first of her gender since 1997 to be assigned more than 124 pounds. Reddam Racing's Nyquist won all five of his starts in 2015, including the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile, FrontRunner Stakes, and Del Mar Futurity, all Grade 1, and was honored with an Eclipse Award as top 2-year-old male. Fox Hill Farms' Songbird, undefeated in four starts and the Eclipse Award-winning 2-year-old filly, is tied with Countess Diana as the second-highest weighted fillies in the history of the Experimental Free Handicap; behind the 126 assigned to First Flight for 1946. Songbird won the 14 Hands Winery Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, Chandelier Stakes, and Del Mar Debutante Stakes, all Grade 1.
SONGBIRD

The Jockey Club Experimental Free Handicap, published annually since 1935, is a weight-based assessment of the previous year's leading 2-year-olds, with the weights compiled for a hypothetical race at 1 1/16 miles. This year's list of eligible horses reviewed all 2-year-olds of 2015 that started in graded or listed stakes races run in the continental United States and, for the first time, in Canada. Out of the eligible 244 males and 221 fillies, a total of 113 males and 105 fillies were assigned weights. Adding the Canadian races increased the total number of eligible 2-year-olds by 33 fillies and 29 males, including 15 weighted fillies and 10 weighted males. "We are very pleased to include horses from Canadian races in the Experimental Free Handicap for the first time in its history, and we are grateful to The Jockey Club of Canada and Woodbine Entertainment Group for their enthusiastic assistance," said James L. Gagliano, president and COO of The Jockey Club. "In previous years, the only Canadian horses to be considered for the Experimental Free Handicap were those that had competed in a graded or listed stakes race in the U.S." All Experimental Free Handicap weight assignments, as well as past performances for those horses, are available within the Resources section of jockeyclub.com. The list for weighted males is here, and the list for weighted fillies can be found here.
Kentucky was the foaling state for Nyquist and Songbird and, once again, was the leading foaling state of all weighted horses with 72 males and 66 fillies; Florida was second with 10 males and five fillies. Ireland led foaling countries outside of the U.S. with four fillies and two males.
The weighting committee of racing secretaries included five this year with P.J. Campo of the Stronach Group, Ben Huffman of Churchill Downs and Keeneland, Martin Panza of The New York Racing Association Inc., Thomas S. Robbins of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, and Steve Lym of Woodbine Entertainment. 
Facts About the Experimental Free Handicap

The Experimental Handicap started in 1933 in the U.S. as a variation of England's Free Handicap. There was no Experimental compiled in 1934.
Today a mythical race designed to gauge the ability of top 2-year-olds during their 3-year-old campaigns, the Experimental Free Handicap was for more than a decade a real race.
The Experimental Handicap was a six-furlong race from 1940 through 1945.
The "free" designation became part of the name from 1946 to 1952 because there was not a nomination fee.
From 1946 to 1952, the Experimental Free Handicap was contested as two races: one at six furlongs and another at 1 1/16 miles.
The six-furlong division of the race was discontinued in 1956, and the race was not held in 1957.
Seven of the Triple Crown winners led their 2-year-old class: Whirlaway (126), Count Fleet (132), Citation (126), Secretariat (129), Seattle Slew (126), Affirmed (126), American Pharoah (126).