Freedman’s provincial-winning colts to provide spring challenge
Glenlogan Park’s Chairman and Libertini’s brother Hawaii Five Oh on a path to elite level
Saturday’s competitive Rosehill card threw up a pair of Golden Rose Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) contenders from the two three-year-old Group 3 races, as Sweet Ride (Deep Field) caused a shock in the San Domenico Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) and Kibou (Maurice) dominated the Up And Coming Stakes (Gr 3, 1300m).
But while Sydney’s Saturday metropolitan scene is once again packed with elite Group racing, Michael Freedman revealed a pair of regally bred, debut-winning colts at the provincial tracks and both could have a say in feature races this spring.
The Freedman team ventured south on Saturday to Kembla Grange, where Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) colt Chairman was awarded the 1200-metre maiden plate in the stewards’ room having copped two significant blows when making his run for home, while at Wyong’s meeting yesterday, Hawaii Five Oh (I Am Invincible), a brother to multiple Group 2 winner Libertini, saluted in the maiden plate (1200m) as the $1.50 favourite.
“Both are very nice colts. I just opted to start at a lower grade with them and give them their chance as they’re both inexperienced,” Freedman told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday.
“I was very happy with both of them, they both have some very good upside going forward from here.”
Hawaii Five Oh, a Gerry Harvey-bred colt owned in conjunction with John Singleton, was made to work for his neck-margin victory over a useful maiden field, defeating Fun Sunday (Sebring) and Nolan (Caravaggio), both of who contested feature juvenile Group races in the autumn.
While visually the performance was not dominant, Freedman believes there was more merit to the win than met the eye but said he will continue to take a patient approach with the colt.
“I think he struggled around that tight track at Wyong. Nash Rawiller was very effusive in his praise with the horse still able to win despite struggling as much as he did with the tight circuit. He’ll learn a lot from it but he’s done a good job to win,” Freedman said.
“He’s a big horse and Wyong doesn’t really suit those types of horses. While visually people may think he should have won more easily, I do think there was a lot of merit to the win and plenty of improvement to come out of it.
“He’s a horse with loads of ability, so I’d rather take a conservative route with him and allow him to learn his trade.”
A measure of his ability sees Hawaii Five Oh hold entries for the Golden Rose, Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) and Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) later this spring, but while Melbourne could be his ultimate destination, it’s the sprint path that looks more likely at this stage.
“This year would come around too soon [for the Cox Plate], mostly because of inexperience,” Freedman, who is chasing his first feature race win since splitting from brother Richard earlier this year, said.
“We may end up taking him to Melbourne over spring and giving him a run down the straight. I think he’s the sort of horse that would love a big, open track like Flemington. A race like the Coolmore wouldn’t be out of the question.”
Hawaii Five Oh is the sixth foal out of Coolmore Classic (Gr 1, 1500m) winner Aloha (Encosta De Lago), who since producing a dead foal in 2020 has proven difficult to get in foal. She was covered by Ole Kirk (Written Tycoon) on a November cover and will return to I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) later this covering season.
Glenlogan Park put their faith in Chairman, another colt with a potent pedigree, when he was passed in with a reserve of $500,000 at last year’s Inglis Easter yearling sale.
That judgement looks like paying dividends when on Saturday he loomed as the winner of the maiden contest at Kembla Grange, only to be buffeted off line on two occasions by first-past-the-post Boy Loves To Run (Wrote), the margin just a head at the post.
“He’s a horse that’s improved vastly into the preparation,” Freedman said. “Early on, while he was always a nice colt, [his talent] wasn’t always obvious.
“I think he’s a horse with plenty of upside. To pick himself up and really charge to the line like he did, that’s the sign of a horse with decent ability and a good future.
“We’ll probably give him another run here in Sydney and give some consideration to the Caulfield Guineas. But he’s another inexperienced horse and whether he’s just at that level just yet, remains to be seen.”
Queensland-based stud Glenlogan Park changed tack five years ago, ceasing to stand stallions to focus on a boutique breeding operation.
When Chairman was welcomed to the world on September 17, 2019, he appeared the epitome of what Glenlogan were attempting to achieve with their new business model, but confidence was dashed when presented with unwelcome news at the yearling sales.
“We loved him and with our change in approach in sourcing high–end mares to breed quality horses, we thought we’d ticked that box with this particular horse at the yearling sale,” Glenlogan’s Steve Morley told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday.
“It turned out he had an x-ray issue which the vets were not prepared to take a risk on. He was very well admired but the stallion boys couldn’t come in for him.
“Our vet had a different opinion, and we had no problem in backing that judgement and race him ourselves.
“Everybody that keeps a well-bred colt has that dream [of winning a Group 1] and we’ll hold on to that until proven otherwise.”
Chairman is the first foal out of the New Zealand-bred VRC Oaks (Gr 1, 2500m) runner-up Harlow Gold (Tavistock), a $600,000 buy for Glenlogan at the 2018 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale.
She slipped to I Am Invincible in 2020 and subsequently missed when returning to the champion stallion the next year. However, she successfully produced a colt by I Am Invincible on August 2.
“She was a very, very good mare and she’s such a good sort,” Morley said. “Unfortunately she slipped a foal quite late in her pregnancy and when you’ve got a young mare that’s just lost a foal they often fret and don’t fall in foal next season.
“We currently have a breathtaking foal by Vinnie [I Am Invincible] on the ground from her but she’ll be heading back to Snitzel this year.”