SANDOWN-LAKESIDE
PERFECT BLISS HCP
Race 2 - 1:52pm
1,200 m
UPSTREAM
CLAY HERO HCP
Race 3 - 2:27pm
1,200 m
BIG DADDY COOL
KENVAIN HCP
Race 6 - 4:20pm
1,200 m
CAPTAIN COLTISH
NANKEEN
MORNINGTON
WISE CHOICE FINE FOODS MDN
Race 2 - 1,512 m
ROSES VALENTINE
DRINK, DRIVE, BLOODY IDIOT-72
Race 5 - 1,008 m
FLY TO RIO
GOLD COAST
CONRAD JUPITER M.M 2YO CLASSIC
Race 7 - 1,200 m
TARIKS
Champ Lee Freedman takes standing count - Herald Sun
THE demise of Hall of Fame trainer Lee Freedman is greatly exaggerated, reports Rod Nicholson for the Herald Sun.
Sure, Freedman didn't train a winner over the fabulous four days at Flemington. And, yes, the showcase gallopers of recent years, including Melbourne Cup goddess Makybe Diva, international victor Mummify or gun filly Alinghi, are all gone from his stables.
Not to fret. He's been on the proverbial canvas before and bounced back with a vengeance, and he's plotting a repeat performance.
"Some people seem to read a lot more in to my form than I do," Freedman said this week as he prepared for a four-day trip to New Zealand to cast an eye over the Ready To Run sale.
"I just move on and don't worry about it. It's happened before and I dare say it may happen again. There is nothing you can do about it now, so you consign it to history.
"I reckon it's pretty easy to nail me," he said, without having to mention the Aussie trait known as the tall poppy syndrome.
"I remain enthusiastic. I feel a bit down after the Cup carnival, but that's to be expected. You move on because you must. Even if you win five or six races over the Flemington Carnival you must just keep going.
"This industry never stops. There are yearling sales and other carnivals and all the usual chores, such as training and talking to owners."
Freedman, 51, is a realist. He has enjoyed the highest of highs and endured challenges that threatened his livelihood.
When you have won five Melbourne Cups, become the youngest person inducted into racing's Hall of Fame and been in charge of wonderful gallopers such as Makybe Diva, Mahogany, Naturalism, Schillaci, Super Impose and Flying Spur, and had years such as 1992-93 when he became the first trainer to win the Caulfield Cup, Melbourne Cup, Cox Plate and Golden Slipper in the one season, you have climbed Mt Everest.
Equally, when you depend on Mummify to win the 2003 Caulfield Cup (which he did) to survive financially, you know a very different pressure.
Without victory, Freedman's multi-million-dollar venture to Markdel at Rye would have turned to dust, along with his training career.
He responded then, in far more demanding circumstances, to win a couple of Melbourne Cups, Caulfield Cup and a host of major races.
So the lack of winners at the Carnival hardly has him quaking in his boots.
"I knew I was in for a lean Cups campaign. It said it all that Our Smoking Joe (who hasn't won since the St George Stakes in February of 2006) was my best staying horse. Even though he had won $1.5 million and always raced against the best company, he was an eight-year-old," he said.
"It reminded me of 2003 when Bush Padre was my sole hope. He won the Group 1 Doomben Cup (2200m) in the May of that year to make it three wins in a row, but he didn't shape up in the spring.
"Trainers pretty well know if they are hoping or dreaming or are really in with a chance in the Cups and this year I didn't even dare dream. It wasn't going to be my year.
"If you don't have the cattle you can't do much. Some years you can be embarrassed with riches, others you are without a bullet in the gun.
"But I have been down before and climbed the mountain again, It is the changing of the guard in my stables. A lot of my horses, particularly the stayers of recent years - Makybe Diva, Mummify, Sphenophyta and Our Smoking Joe - are now gone and I need to replace them."
To all the doomsayers Freedman points out that three of his Flemington Carnival runners had no luck - Electromotive broke down in his race and then Our Smoking Joe bled and was retired - just to rub salt into the wounds.
"I ran second with Time Thief to Whobegotyou in the Caulfield Guineas and second with Miss Scarlatti to Samantha Miss in the Oaks. So we have run into two potential champions. Take them out and I'd be laughing with two Group 1 winners," Freedman said.
"But you can say what you like, we didn't win. And that's the bottom line for a lot of people.
"And we left two of our best three-year-olds out of the Flemington Carnival - Sugar Babe and Time Thief. We are aiming both for the autumn carnivals so they went for a spell. They have so much potential we didn't want to push them. That didn't help our spring campaign, but it leaves us with good quality preparing for another battlefront."
MEANWHILE Freedman already has started his rebuilding quest. Recently his brother Anthony and vet Johnnie Walker went to the Newmarket sales in England with $1 million from a group of loyal owners and bought six staying horses.
They included Woodcutter, who is a potential Melbourne Cup campaigner, a three-year-old stayer named Measurement and another stayer named Time Table.
"We picked on type and they are bred to stay, and have been successful in only a few runs. We wanted them tough for our conditions," Freedman said.
"Our sales in Australia basically concentrate on speedy types. We wanted to get into the market where the horses are bred to stay."
All of the horses will be gelded and arrive at Markdel in mid-January.
"In a perfect world they will be Cup horses, but even if you can get one up to that standard it will be a successful venture," he said.
"If you don't have a high turnover you are vulnerable, so it is back to the drawing board as far as stayers are concerned.
"I don't think I am the only one and I'm sure everyone is doing their best right now to arrest the problem and provide for the future."
New Zealand is another potential breeding ground for stayers that Freedman is keen to survey.
"They have some nice horses there and you need to replenish stocks," he said.
"I have a lot of nice horses. You need to have a stable full of a variety of horses - nice yearlings, speedy two-year-olds, classy three-year-olds and quality stayers.
"It is a balancing act. The industry seems to be concentrating on sprinters and milers, but there is great money available to stayers.
"And I love the Melbourne Cup. It is an iconic race, our nation's flagship race. I've been lucky enough to have won it five times. I want to win it again, and again and again."
Freedman has been at the forefront of racing in Australia for more than 35 years and he intends to be a key player for years to come.
He has trained the winners of 122 Group 1 races - and more than 3000 winners in his career.
And since moving to Markdel at the end of 2002, he boasts 30 Group 1 wins.
And three of the past seven champion three-year-old fillies have come from Rye, as well as three of the past seven Champion Racehorse titles.
The total prizemoney Freedman has generated since 1990 is staggering - nudging $150 million.
He knows the formula to success. And he chuckles that if Bart Cummings can win a 12th Melbourne Cup on the eve of his 81st birthday, maybe trainers don't lose the knack, just the cattle.
Results 1 - 10 of 157 documents
| Article Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 2nd January, 2009 | Expensive I was, but good I am - Marchelle Belle |
| 29th December, 2008 | Mais Oui! Another Stakes Winner |
| 20th December, 2008 | Another Exceed youngster destined for better things |
| 15th December, 2008 | The Slade Bloodstock Honour Roll for December |
| 12th December, 2008 | Convicted to life of hard toil in the Colonies |
| 4th December, 2008 | An Awesome Foursome for Dunn & DLF |
| 27th November, 2008 | Rewarded with a Double, but it is in fact a Treble! |
| 27th November, 2008 | Not only do you get Lee's experience |
| 19th November, 2008 | Freedman's gallopers set Reset alight |
| 17th November, 2008 | Champ Lee Freedman takes standing count - Herald Sun |
Danny Power was Lee's former Racing Manager and his review of the Magic Millions (on www.thethoroughbred.com.au) from the Hunter Valley should leave cash rich buyers salivating!
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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
Grey power at Markdel - By Danny Power
Danny Power looks into the quirks of the Thoroughbred's mind.
