GEELONG SYNTHETIC
ELEPHANT & CASTLE HOTEL (68) Race 6 - 2:55pm
2,200 m
ZATOPEK LANE

DOOMBEN
ASCEND SALES FRED BEST CLASSIC Race 6 - 1,350 m
OUR SMOKIN' ROCK
KIRKS DOOMBEN CUP Race 7 - 2,000 m
MAWINGO
DARLEY BRC SPRINT Race 8 - 1,350 m
SMOKIN' JOEY
MORNINGTON
JACK DOW MEMORIAL HRDL Race 2 - 3,320 m
ABOVE AVERAGE
MONEY NOW HCP (58) Race 6 - 1,508 m
PETRUSHKA

The Anthony Freedman interview

INSIDE RACING'S DANNY POWER TALKS TO ANTHONY FREEDMAN (FROM THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE OF INSIDE RACING MAGAZINE)

Anthony Freedman is the first to admit that he needs a change of persona if his elevation to head trainer for the Freedman brothers' racing empire is to succeed.

The somewhat reclusive Anthony, 47, has comfortably played a back-seat role behind his famous brother Lee for more than 25 years, but has been thrust into the limelight with last month's announcement that Lee, a member of racing's Hall Of Fame, was changing his role in the family-training operation to help rejuvenate the business.

Lee, 55, and his understudy are doing more than just swapping seats in their viewing box at their Markdel training complex at St Andrews on the Mornington Peninsula. Lee will do less with the horses and more behind the scenes to build the business back to somewhere near its glory days. This is a cultural change, and a risky one.

Last year I rang Anthony Freedman for a quote on his brother's career. "I'm media shy and wary of the media," was the reply. Now, things are changing.

Ironically, but surprisingly not so reluctantly, Anthony will become the face and, in many ways, the voice of the Freedmans.

"I am fully aware I have to change, but I wouldn't have taken on the job if I didn't think that I could do it," he said. "I am ready for the challenge. The proof will be in the pudding."

I reckon I know Anthony pretty well. I worked for the stable as racing manager in the 1990s, but we go back to the late 1980s, well before the four brothers - add Richard, 48, and Michael, 43, - held their arms in triumph after Tawrrific and Super Impose quinellaed the 1989 Melbourne Cup, which was the start of a seven-year unmatched run of success in Australian racing history.

Back then, the three brothers (Michael was still at school) were on the rise as a formidable team in Melbourne racing and they knew that it was important to hold hands with a friendly media. They worked it better than most - maybe all bar Colin Hayes. Young, brash and in some ways unpopular with the established trainers of the time, the Freedmans changed the face of racing in Australia and it took more than a decade for the industry to catch up.

Anthony became reclusive, not only by choice, but in many ways by the nature of his position supporting Lee, the licence holder and the face of Freedman Racing. But the Freedman operation has always been "the Freedmans" - a partnership of brothers, minds and money - with Lee as the CEO.

Each brother has his own personality. I was once told by a family member, when summing up Anthony, that if I was ever hit by a bus, that Anthony would be the first of the brothers to visit me in hospital. That might be unfair on Lee, Richard and Michael, but it is a reflection that Anthony's heart, despite his gruff character, is as soft as his handshake.

That's also reflected in his devotion to his family. Anthony and his wife Melissa are private and protective of their children - Charlie, 19, Matilda, 18, and Sam, 15 - so much so that they have rented a house in South Yarra so that they can continue to share a resemblance of family life while the children attend school in Melbourne, with father and mother commuting two or three times a week from their Mooraduc home.

Anthony is a funny man. His wit is as dry as the Freedmans’ recent Group 1 bucket, and his tongue is razor sharp - his jockey bakes are legendary and spiced with a fair bit of good humour. Over lunch, there is no better company than an in-form Anthony Freedman.

However, the Freedmans aren't easy to get to lunch. Despite what many people think, they are not social butterflies. Lee has cancelled more lunches at the 11th hour that he has trained Group 1 winners (tally 124). The Freedmans prefer an introverted life on the farm, pottering around the stables, taking their favourite horse for a walk. It's that devotion to the horse that has made them so successful.

But Anthony admits that the move to Markdel, about 75 minutes from Melbourne on the Mornington Peninsula, has isolated them from their client base - it’s made it easier for them to be reclusive. "It's something we have to address. We need to communicate more one-on-one with our owners, and that's something that Lee has already started doing in his new role."

Anthony said it was wrong to blame the recent Group 1 slump on Markdel. "I genuinely don't believe the underlying criticism that Markdel hasn't worked. Take a look at 2004, 2005 and 2006, we were winning everything."

While the teamwork between the two brothers will continue, Anthony said there would be some subtle differences in his training technique, but nothing drastic. "We always have been changing and tweaking our training. It's a bit like golfers, their swings are never complete," he said. "Every trainer does - it wasn’t that long ago that it was thought you had to run in the Mackinnon Stakes before the Melbourne Cup.

"The biggest change is that we will probably have a smaller stable; around 70 to 80 horses in work here at Markdel (the stable accommodates 90).

"The days of us buying expensive $1 million horses at the yearling sales are gone. We made the decision in the past two years to go back to our proven formula of buying reasonably priced, athletic horses - it’s what we are good at and what took us to the top - and the fruits of that decision are starting to come through now, which is pleasing for the owners who supported us," he said.

Anthony said that a trainer's life at the top could have its difficulties, especially in satisfying the demand from owners wanting to get on to the successful bandwagon. "You end up taking horses that you don't really want, and some of them are high-priced. It's a system doomed to falter."

The new top man has faith in his horsemanship - he "trained" Bint Marscay from the brothers' Randwick base to win the 1993 Golden Slipper - and he's delighted that the owners have accepted the switch of brothers. "It has been 100 per cent. The owners have been outstanding. We owe it to those that have stood by us to get the best results we can, which is one reason why we are making this change.

"This is not about Lee being tired and burn-out. I can tell you he is as keen and passionate as ever ... it's about changing our business structure to best suit our present dynamic."

Anthony said that criticism of Lee had been unfair and uninformed. "I see how hard Lee works. It is a tough industry. Because he's going through a tough time personally and it coincides with a slump, people say he’s given up. It couldn't be further from the truth."

Anthony added said that the nature of racing in Australia had changed a lot in the past 20 years. "The horses come from many different areas - they are sourced from overseas like we have done - but the underlying thing is that if you can't get the yearling selection right, you are going to struggle. That's an area we are concentrating on.”

As for the Melbourne Spring Carnival, the stable had some very promising spring horses - mainly three-year-olds - coming through the system. "We might have some contenders for the Guineas and the Derby," he said. "But whatever happens in the spring, we will be working hard to make it even better next year."

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The Freedman brothers took a decision in 2002 to switch from a metropolitan training regime to a unique environment on the Mornington Peninsula - they built the world-class complex known as Markdel

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