Sales process part of Slipper-winning Freedmans’ longevity and success
Golden Slipper-winning pair Michael and Richard Freedman were hitting the pavement at Inglis’ Riverside Stables yesterday, joining dozens of other trainers, owners and agents whittling down their shortlists ahead of tomorrow’s opening session of the Australian Easter Yearling Sale.
The Sydney-based brothers have returned to the Australian training ranks in recent years – Michael after stints in Singapore and Hong Kong and Richard after a successful media career – reinvigorated and making a big impression.
That was demonstrated through the performance of exciting two-year-old colt Stay Inside (Extreme Choice), who produced a startling performance to win the Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) last Saturday week.
The Freedmans deliberately went their separate ways, crisscrossing the complex, to view the 466-lot catalogue.
“On the first occasion we usually look at them separately because we’re looking for roughly the same thing,” Richard Freedman told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday.
“There’s little nuances between us, but generally we’re looking for the same type and we can do the first cut fairly easily and then usually the second cut we’ll do together.”
Following Stay Inside’s Slipper victory, the Freedmans referenced a yearling selection criteria which had served them and their trainer-brothers, Lee and Anthony, well for four decades.
The same process has been employed again for this week’s sale.
“There will be certain faults we will forgive and there are certain faults we will not. We stick with that and it’s worked for 40 years, so I don’t see a need to change at the moment,” the Rosehill-based Freedman said.
“A lot of things other people consider faults, we don’t, and a lot of things other people will tolerate about a horse, we won’t, so it just comes down to our set of rules compared to whatever everyone else accepts.
“If we’re prepared to tolerate it, we don’t consider it a fault and there are lots of times when the market is off something for a reason which we don’t agree with.”
As expected, Freedman says the quality of the Easter catalogue is of a high standard.
“The market has been so strong all year and you have just got to scale up whatever you think they’re worth as they’re probably going to make more,” he said.
“But there should be a lot of good types at this sale and there is because they have been sorted pretty harshly once already by the auction house, so you get a high proportion of nice horses here.”
Victoria-based Jeremy Rogers, the man who identified and bought this season’s Inglis Millennium (RL, 1200m) winner Profiteer (Capitalist) for syndicator Roll The Dice Racing, is attacking the Easter sale well aware he will have to be budget conscious when assessing horses.
“Roll The Dice have probably upped the budget a little bit over the year or so, so that helps to try and get a bit better quality horse,” said Rogers, who also acts as racing manager for Ballarat trainer Archie Alexander.
“We will probably struggle to buy too much here, but all we can do is have a look and see what’s about and hopefully some fall through the cracks.
“I still look at everything, but when you go back for your second looks, the really nice I Am Invincible or Snitzel colts, you just know that they are probably going to be out of your price bracket, so there’s no point having a second look at them.”
Inglis has been at pains to emphasise the point that the Easter sale is not reserved for buyers looking at the top-end of the market, with a number of breeze-up traders given shortlists to assist them in participating at the auction.
Among those on the grounds in recent days have been Tal Nolen, who prepared VRC Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) winner Lightsaber (Zoustar) for last October’s Inglis Ready to Race Sale, and fellow Victorian trainer and trader David “Butch” Bourne.
In 2019, 52 horses at the Easter sale sold for $100,000 or less, a statistic also highlighted by the company.
“You’re a very good chance of buying a high-class horse out of that bracket at the sale,” Inglis general manager of bloodstock sales and marketing, Sebastian Hutch, said yesterday.
“Horses like Funstar, Land Of Plenty and Quick Thinker, who was a $100,000 horse, won Group 1s, so good horses come out of that bracket at Easter.
“We’ve been encouraging everybody to keep an open mind to that and people have been very receptive to it.”
Hutch added: “The reality of it is, the catalogue for the sale is accumulated through August, September and October. It gets published in January, but much of the content is established in those earlier months.
“Horses change shape, they change profile and the market can be a very fickle thing. There are instances where horses of a particular profile are very popular one year and not as popular the next year, but it certainly doesn’t inhibit them from being able to gallop to a high standard.”
Inspections continue at Riverside Stables today with selling to start at 10am tomorrow.