Freedman filly to Let Fly in Queensland Oaks
Will Freedman is hopeful that progressive filly Let’s Fly (Flying Artie) can announce herself at the top level in Saturday’s $700,000 Queensland Oaks (Gr 1, 2200m), aided by a favourable draw, the booking of leading rider Craig Williams, and a race shape expected to suit her natural racing pattern.
The three-year-old daughter of Blue Gum Farm-based sire Flying Artie (Artie Schiller) put her Oaks credentials firmly on the table when she turned heads with an impressive 5.8–length romp in the Chalouhi Handicap (BM72, 1800m) at Randwick on May 24, pulling clear with authority from her rivals in testing Heavy 9 conditions.
That performance convinced connections she was ready for a rise in class, and they opted to forfeit the late entry fee to secure a berth in Saturday’s Eagle Farm feature, rather than risk missing out with a filly who appears to be hitting her straps at the right time.
“I think she’s an each-way chance,” Freedman, who trains in partnership with his father Richard at Rosehill, told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“You always question form off the heavy track, particularly how heavy it was at Randwick. We probably would have preferred the ground to be a bit more testing up here, but she’s done well between her runs. So there’s no excuse in terms of her improvement coming out of that last run.
“But it’s always hard to get too confident about horses that are coming from that really testing going and then getting back on top of the ground, on what tomorrow will probably be, a good four or a soft five.”
Saturday’s feature will mark Let’s Fly’s second start at the elite level, her first coming at the end of her spring campaign in the Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) at Caulfield, where she was beaten ten lengths to finish last of the 13 runners as a $101 chance.
That run, while disappointing on paper, may have come too soon in the filly’s development having been just her fifth start, and over a distance short of her best.
Since then, Let’s Fly has been given time to strengthen and mature, with Freedman opting to build her confidence through the grades this preparation, a path that has paid dividends leading into Saturday’s Oaks assignment.
Including her last-start Benchmark 72 success, the filly has won two of her five outings this campaign, seeming to improve on each occasion.
With more race experience under her belt and a race shape that is expected to suit the filly’s forward pattern of racing, Freedman is hopeful Let’s Fly can figure in the finish with Craig Williams in the saddle for the first time from barrier four.
“[She has drawn] barrier four with Craig Williams on board. We’re lucky enough to have him at our disposal. She’ll put herself in the race, I don’t know whether she’ll have the gate speed to be able to lead or to sit outside the leader, but she’s certainly going to be on speed,” the co-trainer said.
“Ever since they’ve done the renovations of the race course [at Eagle Farm], it’s probably favoured on–pace runners a little bit more. It’s always an advantage to sort of have that racing style. They put themselves in good positions and then allow themselves the best opportunity to win.”
Let’s Fly was a $60,000 purchase from her breeder Kingstar Farm’s draft at the 2023 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale by the father-and-son training partnership and NXG Racing – in hindsight, a value buy that’s already returned nearly triple that outlay, with $178,700 in career earnings to date.
“We were happy with [the price],” Freedman said. “Flying Artie was probably not the flavour of the month then, he produces probably a more leggy type than some other stallions. At the time, I think Mimi’s Award was pretty competitive in some black-type races at Flemington. So it sort of was leaning that way.
“She always looked like a horse that would get overground. I think actually we may have even bought her after she passed in. She was on our shortlist at that Classic sale and we went back there with Scott Parker at NXG and a big group of our internal owners – it’s a bit of a mix between the two. So, we decided that at $60,000, it was worth the punt.”
By a stallion who was a Group 1-winning sprinter, Let’s Fly is a half-sister to six-time winner Mimi’s Award (Shamus Award), who was a winner of the SAJC Fillies Classic (Gr 3, 2500m) and the Flemington Cup (2800m).
That staying influence on the dam side, paired with Let’s Fly’s scopey physique, has long given the Freedman stable confidence that the Oaks trip would be well within reach.
“She’s always been a filly that has impressed us, and she’s such a big filly that she’s going to keep improving as she gets older again,” he said. “This is only just the start for her.”
The stable will also be represented by Vantage Thoroughbreds-owned filly Pleasure Artist (Trapeze Artist) in the 2200–metre feature. The filly finished a very respectable sixth last time out in the ANZ Bloodstock News The Roses (Gr 2, 2000m) at Doomben, and Freedman believes off the back of her last start and from barrier three with Cejay Graham on board, she is well over the odds at $51.
“I think she’s going as well as she has the entire prep,” he said.
“I thought her last run was an improvement. She’s also drawn a kind barrier. She’ll be ridden a bit more conservative and and then hopefully she can then finish off. I’m confident she’ll rent out the 2200 [metres] if she can have an easy time of it early.
“With her racing style, you’re probably going to get a bit further back and you need the breaks to come at the right time, but she’s there to compete and it wouldn’t surprise me if she runs a bit bolder than her odds suggest.”