Having been part of the famous 'FBI' - Freedman Brothers Incorporated - with Lee, Richard and Michael, which dominated racing around the turn of the century, Anthony Freedman has built a formidable reputation as a trainer in his own right in the past nine years.
Since Freedman's partnership with his brother Lee ended in 2011, he has trained 437 winners at a strike rate of better than 16 per cent. Most notable is his success at the elite level, where he has had 12 Group 1 winners, including two in this past season, with Super Seth in the Caulfield Guineas and Warning (Declaration Of War {USA}) in the Victoria Derby.
As Assistant Trainer, Sam Freedman has become an increasingly important part of the stable since his return from Europe, where he worked under Roger Varian. He has taken on many of the raceday and media duties for his father and his ascent to the role of co-trainer is no surprise.
“I’m very excited and feel extremely privileged to be joining Dad in a partnership for the upcoming season,” Sam said .
“I’m very excited and feel extremely privileged to be joining Dad in a partnership for the upcoming season." - Sam Freedman
“I feel like I’ve had a good grounding, growing up and being around the stable from a young age when Lee and Anthony were at Markdel.
“I spent two years working for Roger Varian in Newmarket as his Pupil Assistant, I was lucky to learn different training methods over there, particularly with stayers and the longevity of younger horses such as Defoe, Postponed and Belardo.
“More recently I’ve served as assistant to Dad for the past 3 seasons and we’ve been lucky to have some extremely talented horses such as Shoals, Santa Ana Lane, Lyre, Super Seth and Warning achieve Group 1 wins in that time."
Anthony and Sam Freedman (left) with Super Seth
The past three seasons have been particularly fruitful for the latest incarnation of Freedman Racing and this season is set to be Anthony's most successful as a trainer with 92 winners.
That success has further helped build the influence of the extended Freedman family, with Richard and Michael training in partnership in Sydney, where they have had 67 winners in 2019/20, while Richard's son Will recently took up his own trainer's licence based at Scone. Lee Freedman has been based in Singapore for several years and is currently third on the trainers' premiership there.
Furthering the Freedman legacy
Freedman Racing moved to Flemington in 2013 after the sale of the family property Markdel, but the Mt Eliza base at Jonathan Munz's property at Pinecliff has been a key asset and it is there, where Sam Freedman has cut his teeth.
“I’ve been fortunate to learn off many long-time employees of the stable including Ash Yargi and Steve Adams whom I am very much indebted to," Sam said.
“With a base at both Pinecliff and Flemington our focus will always be to maintain attention to detail with each individual horse and keep transparency and honesty with our owners which has been one thing Dad has always drilled into me, quality not quantity.
“We’ve got an amazing team of brilliant staff and amazing support from our loyal owners so hopefully we can continue to attain great results with a relatively small sized stable.”
“We’ve got an amazing team of brilliant staff and amazing support from our loyal owners so hopefully we can continue to attain great results with a relatively small sized stable.” - Sam Freedman
For Anthony, who generally eschews publicity and media despite a tremendously successful career in the thoroughbred industry, the formation of the partnership is a dawn of a new era.
“Sam has worked hard since coming home from Europe and deserves to be officially recognised in partnership," he said.
“This was the next step for him. He can see things differently through his experiences overseas and is enthusiastic about the progress and promotion of the stable.
“In the changing landscape, partnerships are becoming more and more common with the need to share the workload amongst more than one individual. We have a great system in place and we are hopeful of continuing to achieve top class results going forward.
“I am proud of Sam and thrilled to have him join me in partnership in the new season."
The father-son trend
Father-son training partnerships have grown increasingly influential in the Australian racing landscape over the past decade.
The registration of training partnerships was first allowed in Victoria in 2005 and New South Wales in 2008, but 10 years ago, there was only one partnership in the top 20 trainers in Australia.
Even five years ago, in the 2014/15 season, the concept of sharing training responsibilities was yet to hit its straps, with only three in the top 25, including two of the father-son pioneers, Troy and Leon Corstens and Team Hawkes, which includes John Hawkes and his sons Michael and Wayne.
| Chris Waller | 278½ | $44,512,790.00 | 12.20% |
| Ciaron Maher & David Eustace | 269½½ | $18,024,480.00 | 18.00% |
| David & B Hayes & T Dabernig | 234½ | $14,187,470.00 | 13.50% |
| Kris Lees | 215½ | $11,104,960.00 | 14.80% |
| James Cummings | 198 | $22,056,480.00 | 16.10% |
| Tony Gollan | 157½ | $7,481,826.00 | 17.60% |
| Peter & Paul Snowden | 155 | $13,062,680.00 | 15.20% |
| Tony & Calvin McEvoy | 145½ | $8,610,579.00 | 20.60% |
| Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | 140 | $10,702,650.00 | 16.50% |
| Toby & Trent Edmonds | 134 | $4,882,195.00 | 19.90% |
Table: Top 10 trainers in Australia - 2019/20 season (as at 28/07/2020)
1/2 appears in the 'Winners' column to signify a dead heat*
This season, the metropolitan trainers' premierships in Melbourne and Adelaide will be won by partnerships involving fathers and sons, while in Western Australia it will be taken out by a partnership of husband and wife, and in Brisbane, a father-son partnership will finish second.
The proliferation of successful partnerships is such that six of the top 10 trainers in the Australian premiership for 2019/20 will be by duos or trios, four of those involving fathers and sons.
Lindsay Park a dynasty in transition
The Hayes' family dynasty in arguably unrivalled in Australian racing, but the upcoming season will see a significant change, with David Hayes departing for Hong Kong, ending the father-son aspect of the operation.
David's son Ben became part of a three-man partnership with his father as well as his cousin Tom Dabernig four years ago, but the baton has now been fully passed to the next generation, with David's departure. The trio marked their final season together by winning the metropolitan trainers' premiership in Melbourne.
Tom Dabernig, David and Ben Hayes (left to right)
In Adelaide, the legacy of Lindsay Park and CS Hayes is also carried on through the McEvoy family. One-time Lindsay Park head-trainer Tony McEvoy joined in partnership with his son Calvin at the start of last season and they celebrated by winning the South Australian premiership. They also won their first Group 1 in partnership with Hey Doc (Duporth) in the G1 Winterbottom S.
Similarly, Toby and Trent Edmonds joined forces at the start of the 2019/20 season and have had a terrific first campaign in partnership with 134 winners. Including G1 Stradbroke H. winner Tyzone (Written Tycoon). They finished second to Tony Gollan in both the Brisbane and Queensland trainers' premiership.
The pioneers
Team Hawkes were pioneers in the partnership space, with John and his two sons starting up back in 2008, soon after Hawkes Snr left Crown Lodge.
Utilising a two-state approach with great effect, they have trained 17 Group 1 winners in that time, averaging close to 100 winners over the past five seasons.
They have built a reputation as stallion-making training operation, highlighted by this season's G1 Coolmore Stud S. winner Exceedance, who begins his breeding career at Vinery Stud in 2020.
Peter and Paul Snowden
Also with a well-earned reputation for turning talented colts into multi-million dollar stallion prospects are Peter and Paul Snowden. Peter Snowden was Hawkes' long-term Crown Lodge assistant and assumed control of what then became the Darley operation.
He continued to follow his old boss' career path when he broke out on his own together with his son Paul in 2013. Since then, they haven't looked back, averaging close to 150 winners across the past five seasons.
In total they have 14 Group 1 wins to their credit, including a pair of victories from star 2-year-old King's Legacy (Redoute's Choice) in the autumn, assuring him of a future as a stallion, with Coolmore now part of the ownership group.
The other Group 1-winning father-son training partnership was John and Chris Meagher, with Pippie (Written Tycoon) in the Oakleigh Plate.
Partnerships to the fore
There is also a rise in successful husband and wife/partner combinations enjoying success. Grant and Alana Williams, who won the G1 Railway S. and All-Star Mile with Regal Power (Pierro), will be crowned the premier trainers in Perth and Western Australia, while Trent Bussutin and Natalie Young continue to make a significant impression and celebrated a Group 1 win with Tagaloa (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) in the Blue Diamond S.
Father-daughter partnerships have enjoyed success, with Richard and Chantelle Jolly's combination creating an impression in South Australia and Tony and Maddysen Sears making a similar mark in Queensland.
It follows a broader trend as to the rise of training partnerships as a whole as a means of sharing the workload across two or more people. No pair has risen quicker than Ciaron Maher and David Eustace in the past two seasons and they will be second only to Chris Waller in terms of numbers of Australian winners trained this season.
There is also Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, who will finish top 10 again in the Australian premiership this season having averaged 145 winners across their four years working together.
