Freeman Wright Holmes (6 June 1871–21 February 1967), better known as Free Holmes was a New Zealand jockey, horse driver, trainer and breeder. He was born in Ashburton,

South Canterbury South Canterbury is the area of the Canterbury Region of the South Island of New Zealand bounded by the Rangitata River in the north and the Waitaki River (the border with the Otago Region) to the south. The Pacific Ocean and ridge of the South ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

on 6 June 1871. He was known as "The Grand Old Man of Trotting". He is notable for being both a champion driver and formerly a champion jockey. He won a unique double of the

New Zealand Cup The New Zealand Cup is a thoroughbred horse race run at the Riccarton Park Racecourse in Christchurch. New Zealand Cup week The New Zealand Cup is raced on the final Saturday of Christchurch "Cup week" held each year in the second week of Nove ...

in 1888 for thoroughbreds, at

Riccarton Riccarton may refer to: New Zealand * Riccarton, New Zealand, a suburb of Christchurch ** Riccarton (New Zealand electorate), the electorate named after it ** The location of Riccarton Race Course * a locality on the Taieri Plains in Otago Scotlan ...

, riding Manton, and in 1919 driving Trix Pointer to win the

NZ Trotting Cup The New Zealand Cup for standardbred horses, also known as either the New Zealand Trotting Cup or the New Zealand Pacing Cup is a Group One (G1) harness race held annually by the New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club at Addington Raceway in Ch ...

at the

Addington Raceway Addington may refer to: Places In Australia: * Addington, Victoria In Canada: * Addington, Ontario * Addington County, Ontario (now Lennox and Addington County, Ontario) * Addington Highlands, Ontario * Addington Parish, New Brunswick * A ...

. As a jockey, he also won the 1894 Grand National Hurdles and 1895

Great Northern Hurdles The Great Northern Hurdles is one of New Zealand's feature jumping races. History The race has been run in early September since 2005, after previously being held in early June. The Great Northern Hurdles is now raced on the same day as the Grea ...

and

Great Northern Steeplechase The Great Northern Steeplechase is New Zealand's richest steeplechase. For most of its life the race was run over at Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland, making it Australasia's longest horse race, and usually took over eight minutes to complete. ...

with Liberator. He also won two

Auckland Trotting Cup The Auckland Pacing Cup which is sometimes referred to as the Auckland Trotting Cup or merely the Auckland Cup is a race held at Alexandra Park in Auckland, New Zealand for Standardbred horses. It is one of the two major harness races, along with ...

s. "Old Free" as he was reverently known in the trotting fraternity was also an expert in the management of thoroughbred horses. He successful raced, trained and owned horses both over the fences and on the flat. He also rode and drove trotters.Free Holmes - Grand Old Man of Trotting
His son Maurice Holmes was also a driving legend.

Major wins

''Standardbreds'' * 1936

Inter Dominion Pacing Championship :''for winners of the trotting event see: Inter Dominion Trotting Championship'' The Inter Dominion is a harness racing competition that has been contested since 1936 in Australia and New Zealand. The Inter Dominion was the brain child of Weste ...

Evicus * 1935

Graham Direct * 1934

Roi L'Or * 1932

New Zealand Free For All The New Zealand Pacing Free For All is a major New Zealand harness race. It is notable as it is a Group One championship sprint race and has been won by nearly every champion pacer in New Zealand. History of the race Horses which have won the ...

Roi L'Or * 1922

Trix Pointer * 1919

New Zealand Trotting Cup The New Zealand Cup for standardbred horses, also known as either the New Zealand Trotting Cup or the New Zealand Pacing Cup is a Group One (G1) harness race held annually by the New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club at Addington Raceway in Chr ...

Trix Pointer ''Thoroughbreds'' * 1888

Manton * 1888

New Zealand Derby The New Zealand Derby is a set-weights Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds, run over a distance of 2,400 metres (12 furlongs) at Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland, New Zealand. It is held on the first Saturday in March, as the opening day o ...

Manton

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Free 1871 births 1967 deaths New Zealand jockeys New Zealand racehorse owners and breeders Sportspeople from Ashburton, New Zealand New Zealand harness racers New Zealand racehorse trainers

Major wins

See also

References