Freedman eyes golden spring with talented bunch of horses
Michael Freedman appears poised for a golden spring, with an extended weekend featuring three notable winners auguring well for the Randwick conditioner.
When you’ve got a bloke called Lee Freedman as your stable foreman, things must be going alright. That was the case when that recently retired Gold Coast trainer put the saddle on Bunker Hut (Savabeel) before his success in a 1200-metre benchmark 90 at Doomben on Saturday.
“He’s a very experienced foreman,” quipped the youngest Freedman of the eldest.
But far more special were the 57-year-old Freedman’s achievements closer to home on Friday and Saturday.
Four-year-old mare Just Feelin’ Lucky (Justify) – one of the senior members of his still-building stable – won Wyong’s Mona Lisa Stakes (Listed, 1350m).
And as meritorious as that win was, racing three-wide without cover second-up after a slog on a Randwick heavy 10 a fortnight earlier, it was trumped for the excitement factor a day later when Apocalyptic (Extreme Choice) won Randwick’s three-year-old fillies’ feature, the Furious Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m).
That was no mean feat. Apocalyptic went in first-up as a one-start maiden, against 12 rivals mostly far more hardened by experience and recent racing.
But, firming late to start $5 third favourite, the filly in the MyRacehorse colours drove through the pack in the last 100 metres to score by 0.26 lengths. She beat into the minor placings Kia Ora Stud and TFI’s Tupakara (Trapeze Artist), a filly having her seventh start, and favourite Savvy Hallie (Hellbent), who’d won her past two of six outings, alongside three placings.
And all this is happening while Freedman’s Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) winner, Marhoona (Snitzel), still waits in the wings to resume for the spring, with her Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) stocks underscored by a recent barrier trial win in strong company.
Apocalyptic’s triumph under Tommy Berry consolidated the canny judgment of young horses with which Freedman is endowed, and which has been reflected in his results from two completed seasons since branching out alone after his split with another brother, Richard.
“It was a pretty special win,” Freedman told ANZ News. “To come out and do what she did speaks volumes as to her ability.
“I was umming and aahing about running a one-start maiden in a race of that quality, against experienced and somewhat fitter horses who’ve been to the races a bit.
“But we decided to go for it because of what she’d been showing us at home. Both her trials had been very good, particularly the last one at Hawkesbury against some quality Group class horses, on a surface that wasn’t to her liking.
“Then with her final piece of work last Tuesday, I put it to Tommy to give us some honest and accurate feedback as to whether we’d go to the Furious or somewhere else. He said, ‘You’d be crazy not run’. That was pretty much it.”
That second trial on a soft 7 at Hawkesbury, in which Apocalyptic ran a 1.65-length sixth, was the one Marhoona won, by 0.47 lengths. Headwall (Dream Ahead) ran second and Ostraka (Pariah) was fifth. That pair came out two races after Saturday’s Furious and ran first and third in the Concorde Stakes (Gr 3, 1000m).
Apocalyptic will head towards the next leg of the ATC’s Princess Series, the Tea Rose Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) on September 20, before the series climax in the Flight Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) on October 4.
Bookmakers responded to Saturday’s win by making her a $4.50 equal favourite for the Flight alongside Bjorn Baker’s Within The Law (Lucky Vega) – who caught the eye surging home for fifth in the Furious.
Apocalyptic became the 15th stakes winner from 134 runners – at 11.2 per cent – for sub-fertile sensation Extreme Choice (Not A Single Doubt), who’s standing at Newgate Farm this spring for $330,000 (all fees inc GST), up from $275,000.
And, looking likely to continue enhancing her residual value for her team of owners, she’s also gone a long way towards justifying the faith Freedman and colleagues showed in her at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale last year.
Along with micro-syndicator MyRacehorse and Julian Blaxland Bloodstock, Freedman secured the filly for $400,000, with MyRacehorse taking half and breeder Kate Nivison staying involved.
Freedman believes Apocalyptic embodies the versatility of a stallion who, after all, sired the winners of last season’s Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) and Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) in Devil Night and Knight’s Choice, two of his five elite victors.
“The main thing for me when I saw her was her athleticism,” Freedman said. “Extreme Choice can often get some undersized horses who’ve obviously been very good, but this one was a little bit different in that she was a tall, leggy type, with a very athletic frame, and a really athletic walk.
“To be honest, I didn’t think we’d be able to buy her – $400,000 was about the top of our budget, so I was very happy we got her.”
Apocalyptic’s debut in a Randwick two-year-old handicap last December 28 would in hindsight be proven auspicious. As on Saturday, she finished strongly from back in the ruck, this time running a 0.41-length second.
First home was Gallo Nero (Wootton Bassett), who next ran third in the $3 million Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) at the Gold Coast before a second in Group 2 class in Brisbane to subsequent Group 1 winner Cool Archie (Cool Aza Beel).
Third home was Memo (Capitalist), who’d run two stakes placings, would step out next start and run second in the Gold Coast’s 2YO Classic, and later win the Magic Night Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m).
“Apocalyptic arguably should’ve won that first start. She had a really chequered run,” Freedman said. “I went home that night thinking we had a really good one.”
In fact, Freedman considered her his “top seed” for the Golden Slipper.
To be fair, Marhoona wouldn’t have her first barrier trial until 12 days later, but still Apocalyptic looked potentially special.
Others noticed, too, for when her brother went to Inglis Easter a few months later, he fetched $1.7 million – the sixth highest lot of the sale – bought by Chris Waller, Guy Mulcaster and B2B Thoroughbreds.
“We had a bid on him too, but unfortunately we didn’t have enough bullets,” Freedman said. “He was a lovely colt. I’d be interested to see how he goes.”
Unlike the bay Apocalyptic, the as yet unnamed colt is a grey, taking after their dam Shadow’s (Medaglia D’Oro) grey-bay colouring. She was an unraced sister to the triple stakes-placed Geist, and their second dam was Virage De Fortune (Anabaa), a dual Group 1 winning sprinter and the joint top filly on the 2005-06 Australasian 3YO Classification.
But while the sale of the colt was a boon for breeder Nivison, Freedman’s early excitement after Apocalyptic’s first start had had to be put on hold. A hoof abscess put her out of Slipper calculations, and delayed her second start until last Saturday, almost nine months after her first.
“She had two weeks off to freshen up after her debut, and unfortunately developed a nasty foot abscess in her off hind, and it hung around as they can do sometimes,” Freedman said.
“We ran out of time to have her up to the mark for a tilt at the Slipper. We made the decision to give her a nice long break, which in hindsight might turn out to be a blessing.
“She certainly wasn’t used up as a two-year-old, and she did a lot of development in her time off. She was a tall, leggy filly as a yearling, but that time off allowed her to fill into her frame a bit more.
“Hopefully she can continue to improve as she matures a bit more.”
Marhoona will trial at Rosehill on Tuesday, after which Freedman will decide on her resumption. The $1 million The Shorts (Gr 2, 1100m) at Randwick on September 20 shapes as the likely favourite, with Freedman indicating the Coolmore up the Flemington straight would probably be the filly’s main goal.
Just Feelin’ Lucky is headed towards Newcastle’s Tibbie Stakes (Gr 3, 1400m) on September 19, or the Stocks Stakes (Gr 2, 1500m) at Moonee Valley the following week.
“She ran terrific in the Mona Lisa,” Freedman said of the daughter of Justify (Scat Daddy), out of Crevette (Danehill), a triple stakes winning sister to Hong Kong’s dual Horse of the Year Fairy King Prawn.
“She didn’t have the easiest of runs, she was three-wide no cover the whole way, and did a great job to hang on and win.
“She’s a pretty good quality mare. I’m keen to see if we can stretch her to 2000 metres if possible, which she’s bred to do.”
All in all Freedman – who has more than 170 horses on his books and trains out of 55 boxes – has started the new season where he left off the old one.
That campaign yielded his stable 66 winners at a 20.1 per cent strike rate – compared with 66 at 19.7 per cent in 2023-24 – and brought 34 city winners, up 14 on the previous term.
“We’ve spent the last 18 months to two years building a team of young horses,” said Freedman. “I’d say 90 per cent of the stable are two- and three-year-olds. There’s not many older horses.
“It takes time to build those young horses up, but to get 66 winners, and 30 odd in town, for a stable of 55 boxes was a good achievement.
“It takes a couple of years once you go out on your own. You’ve got to keep going back to the sales and trying to source good young stock and hopefully get good support from the owners; without that you don’t have much hope.
“I’ve got a terrific bunch of owners. They’re very supportive. Some are breeders and breed very good stock, like Emirates Park, John Camilleri, and now we’re getting some business from Godolphin, which is great.”
Sheikh Mohammed’s empire, in its recent switch to public trainers, sent Freedman eight two-year-olds and a group of older horses. Dual winner Polyglot (Lonhro), who’s run second at Rosehill twice for his new trainer, ranks as the best performed.
“When you can get these sorts of quality homebred horses, it takes a bit of pressure off at the yearling sales,” he said.
“I’ve been sorting through Godolphin’s two-year-olds, and we’ve got some beautiful colts and fillies coming through.”
Freedman said the standouts might reveal themselves in jump-outs this Friday, but that he was hoping to have “a couple of colts and a couple of fillies” start at Sydney’s first official two-year-old trials, at Kensington on September 22.