Freedmans’ colt talent set to be unleashed
Father-and-son training partnership looking to James Harron quintet as well as Daumier and Doull to provide spring ammunition
No trainer would begrudge having in their care $5.85 million worth of six potently-bred colts, but as the spring riches ramp into gear, over the next ten weeks potential stallion careers will either be made or dissipated, and such an abundance of talent presents both a tumultuous dilemma when plotting paths towards big-race success and a considerable amount of pressure.
Mornington-based trainers Anthony and Sam Freedman have eight colts nominated for next month’s Golden Rose Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) at Rosehill, with all but two handed a nomination for races across this weekend.
Five of the eight contenders race in the green and gold of the James Harron colts partnership, while for Godolphin homebred Daumier (Epaulette) a stud career is likely to have already been forged having won the Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) at Caulfield in February this year.
Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) colt Doull, a $1.2 million Inglis Easter buy, has the weight of expectation to be the first stallion prospect from colts partnership new boys the Victorian Alliance, while another spring contender is Dundeel (High Chaparral) colt Elliptical, who races for a Suman Hedge-led syndicate.
The prestigious Freedman name is synonymous with elite-level success over the last three decades and more but in recent years the father-and-son partnership has proven to be no stranger to creating stallions.
Anthony prepared two-year-old stakes winner-turned-Rosemont-sire Hanseatic (Street Boss) as well as Waikato Stud’s Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Super Seth (Dundeel) and since son Sam joined the partnership ahead of the 2020-21 season the duo have delivered Group 1 success for Newgate Farm and China Horse Club in the shape of the globetrotting colt Artorius (Flying Artie).
Despite the gravitation of stallion syndicates to their training operation, Sam Freedman said they remain philosophical in their approach.
“It’s a pleasure to train them. They come with a high-priced ticket and there’s obviously a little bit of pressure involved, but ultimately we can just point them in the direction and nurture them the best we can,” Sam Freedman told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“They’ve got to measure up and the competition gets harder and harder as we head deeper into spring, but they’ll get their chance to prove themselves if they can.
“All owners are pretty realistic in that they can’t all measure up to the heights that their price suggests they should, but hopefully a couple of them can and there’s a nice return on them.”
The Freedmans accepted with three of the four colts to be nominated for Group races this weekend.
Harron’s Cannonball, a $975,000 son of Capitalist (Written Tycoon), has been directed to Sydney for the San Domenico Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m), while Daumier and last year’s Inglis Melbourne Premier sale top lot Crosswinds (Written Tycoon) remain in Victoria for the HDF McNeil Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) at Caulfield.
With five starts Daumier is, along with Cannonball, the most experienced of the Freedman-trained stallion prospects. The son of Epaulette (Commands) won on debut in the Blue Diamond Preview (c&g) (Listed, 1000m) before prevailing by the narrowest of margins in the Blue Diamond ahead of Revolutionary Miss (Russian Revolution). He then went to Sydney for two fourth placed-finishes in the Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) and Sires’ Produce (Gr 1, 1400m), with both races run on heavy tracks.
Crosswinds is unbeaten from two starts having won a four-runner race on debut at Ballarat in March, followed by a step up to stakes level for the St Alban’s Stakes (Listed, 1200m) at Moonee Valley.
“Daumier has the option of heading to a Golden Rose or going to the Coolmore. They’re two targets that are front of mind for him. I think he’s one that will get to 1400 [metres] but that’s probably his limit,” Freedman said.
“Crosswinds, we don’t really know what his trip is going to be just yet. We’re still working out what his targets will be, but these first couple of runs will probably dictate where he’ll end up this spring.”
Cannonball, who won the Redoute’s Choice Stakes (Listed, 1100m) at Caulfield in April and returned with a fourth-placed finish in the Vain Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) earlier this month, will be targeted at the short-course trips.
“Cannonball is probably a little better suited to the 1100 metres up there in Sydney and he’s raced very well on the Rosehill track, so that was a logical race for him,” Freedman said.
“These runs early in the prep may dictate where they end up, but Cannonball, being a real speed horse – I think he probably gets six furlongs under the right conditions – we’ll run him in Sydney and then see where we go from there.
“The other two, they’re first-up and just kicking off. You’d like to spread them where you can, but neither of them are wound up and they’ll have bigger targets down the track.”
Latvian (Pariah) was another of Harron’s colts to be given a nomination for the McNeil, but he will instead start his campaign back at Moonee Valley next week, a venue where he has his sole win to date from two starts with a dominant all-the-way success over 1200 metres in March.
“That’s probably a slightly softer option [for Latvian],” Freedman said. “He’s more in the mould of a 1400-metre horse and he might get a mile.”
The lightly raced Crosswinds and Latvian are joined by maiden stablemates and fellow Harron-owned colts Custodian (Shalaa) and Wilbury (Capitalist) with entries in the Golden Rose. Both have been handed nominations this weekend for races at Moe and Benalla, however the former, a $1.15 million son of Shalaa (Invincible Spirit), is likely to bid for a breakthrough win at Sandown next week as connections search for a dry surface.
The wet autumn led to disrupted campaigns for a number of talented juveniles last season that were craving quicker tracks, Custodian included. The colt made his debut when sixth in the Black Opal Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) at Canberra on a Soft 5 and Freedman is acutely aware the prevailing two-year-old form as we know it could be significantly altered by the emergence of untapped, recently-turned three-year-olds.
Last weekend’s Silver Shadow Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) in Sydney resulted in Zougotcha (Zoustar) capturing a first stakes success while Revolutionary Miss finished at the tail of the 14-runner field, and there was another new three-year-old stakes winner in Melbourne when Fast Witness (Star Witness) won the McKenzie Stakes (Listed, 1200m), a race from which both Latvian and Crosswinds were scratched.
“It will be very interesting to see how the two-year-old form marries up at three. I think everyone’s pretty open to the fact that it could shift very quickly,” he said.
“A lot of these horses haven’t done a lot of racing because of the wet tracks. Daumier was one [that did race], having won the Blue Diamond, and in those lead ups the tracks were pretty firm.
“But he’s one that handles all types of going so he’s a little bit more versatile.
“Crosswinds is one that certainly appreciates firmer footing, so he’d be one to improve as the tracks improve.
“I think [Custodian] has improved, too. In that [autumn] preparation, he was another who was a victim of the tracks. We had him ready to go for quite a while and we just held him back, held him back, and when he went to the Black Opal it was at the back end of his preparation and we probably got it a little bit wrong with the blinkers on.
“We just hit restart on him…he’s a lovely horse. We want to go and see him do it now. He’s got to earn his stripes in a maiden and we’ll work out where we go with him after that.”
Leading the Freedman pack, however, could well be a horse we will not see this weekend.
Doull is the $6 favourite for the Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) off the back of a debut win at Flemington in May and shapes as another colt likely to shake-up the prevailing order when he returns first-up on September 10 at headquarters.
He finished second in an 800-metre jump-out at Flemington on August 8.
“Doull may end up as our number one seed if things go well and he could be another one that shows his best on a good surface. He kicked off late in his two-year-old season,” Freedman said.
“He’ll run in the Poseidon [Stakes] and then the Danehill [Stakes] and, providing he’s measuring up, he’ll go to the Coolmore, and that will be his three runs this spring. He’ll have another trial on Wednesday and go into the Poseidon fresh.”