By Craig Kerry
Not even five months into the season, Randwick trainer Michael Freedman has nearly as many winners in town as his total for the entire 2023-24 campaign.
And while Freedman is not interested in parlaying his success into a bigger team, he is focused on kicking more goals with his exciting group of young talent.
Trainer Michael Freedman talks to jockey Tommy Berry after Pallaton’s win last week at Randwick.Credit: Getty Images
He will debut his latest tyro, Apocalyptic, on Saturday in a stacked 1100m two-year-olds race on Saturday at Randwick, where his Wootton Bassett colt, Pallaton, blitzed rivals last week to stamp himself as a Golden Slipper contender.
Like Pallaton, Apocalyptic has won and gone close in two trials leading into a debut, and Freedman is keen to see her perform against Magic Millions Classic favourite Memo and others preparing for the $3 million race on the Gold Coast on January 11.
“She’s obviously not as experienced as some of her opposition there on Saturday, but she’s a filly that’s kept improving in her prep, so it will be interesting to see how she measures up against them,” Freedman said of the $7 Sportsbet hope. “Then we can map out a bit of a plan.”
Off her trials, the $400,000 Magic Millions yearling was a $21 chance for the Classic, but Freedman was not intent on qualifying.
The Freedman brothers
– trainer Lee, Anthony, Michael and Richard – after Subzero won the Melbourne Cup in 1992. Credit: Fairfax
“I’m not that fussed either way,” he said. “If she happened to be able to do that, then we’d give it some consideration, but I’m not necessarily sure she’s the ideal type for a race like that, around a relatively tight turning circuit.
“She’s got a nice turn of foot, and she’s a lovely, scopey type of filly … Hopefully, she can put her hand up as an autumn type of two-year-old.”
Pallaton’s debut victory continued a stellar season for Freedman, who had 31 winners in NSW before Thursday at a strike rate of 24.2 per cent. His metropolitan numbers are even better – 18 wins at 24.7 per cent.
It’s easily the best strike rate of any trainer with more than a handful of starters in town this season and comes after two impressive full campaigns since splitting with brother, Richard, in April 2022.
Last season, he had 20 wins at 14.7 per cent in the city, and 63 at 20.5 statewide. It was 13 at 14.8 in town and 46 at 20.5 in NSW in 2022-23.
Despite the growth, the youngest of the famous Freedman brothers, who ran an all-conquering stable for 20 years, was content with quality over quantity.
“I don’t really want more than I’ve got,” he said. “I’ve got 55 here at Randwick, which is a nice number for me. It’s manageable, and you can keep an eye on every horse. I don’t think I’d enjoy it much if I had a huge number to look after.
“It’s a young stable. Of the 55, I think there’s 26-27 two-year-olds, so it’s nice to start getting a few of these young ones off to the races because they are the future of the stable.
“It takes time. It’s like building a young football team. You’ve got to go to the draft, our yearling sales, recruit young stock and develop them. It doesn’t happen overnight.
“I think we’ve been very fortunate to get really good support from good owners. And I think this crop of two-year-old is probably the deepest we’ve had.”
Also on Saturday, Freedman has Queen Of The Mile ($6) in race five. She won first-up at Canterbury then was third in the Wyong Magic Millions 3YO and 4YO Stakes.
“She put in a great effort there at Wyong against good opposition,” he said. “She’s maybe slightly back in grade there on Saturday in a fillies and mares benchmark race. She’s very genuine and never far away.”
Yiska ($12), a half-brother to Pallaton, is in the sixth. He also won first-up at Canterbury, then stuck on well for fourth at Randwick after a three-wide run.
“He ran really well the other day,” Freedman said. “From a horrible barrier, he never really got an opportunity to get some cover, which I think is a bit of a key with that horse. I think from a much softer draw there, he can be tucked away, and it’s the right type of race for him.”
Bunker Hut ($6), which has had two narrow defeats this time in, is in the seventh.
“He’s drawn a tricky enough barrier there [in nine] and just needs a bit of luck,” he said. “And we’ve gone from the visors, which he’s worn for quite a while, to a full set of blinkers, which he worked in on Tuesday morning.”
