'A $260,000 horse was like a Mercedes Benz to me'

Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan

Fortune favours the brave is a saying Will Freedman can attest to be true.

Now training at Rosehill with his father Richard, Will began his career flying solo in the training ranks in Scone and when his career was very much in the embryonic stage, he took what can only be described as a ‘leap of faith’ and reached out to one of the biggest owners in Australia seeking his support.

“I emailed Mr Bon Ho when I was starting out training in Scone when I needed to find some good clients and people had always told me that he was a good client, who had invested a lot into Australian racing.

“I have personally learned that every wealthy man at one point has been helped when they were young and fortunately when they become in a position of helping young people, they often like doing the same and they like giving back because at some point in time they had to be helped,” Freedman explained.

“I think Bon Ho enjoys helping people that are young and he knows people who are young are very hungry, enthusiastic and want to do the work. I was fortunate enough to strike a note when I sent him an email asking him to support me.”

A pledge of support

With Bon Ho willing to pledge his support for the young trainer, next on the agenda was for Freedman to source the right horse for his new high-profile client and, like so many trainers and agents, first stop was the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in January.

Drafted among the Rosemont Stud offering, Fashion Legend is out of three-time winner Sarong (NZ) (Exceed And Excel), who is herself a daughter of G1 William Reid S. winner Wrap Around (Bletchingly).

Further back, this is the same family as dual Group 1 winner Fashions Afield (Redoute’s Choice) and G3 Proud Miss S. winner Runaway Star (Northern Meteor).

After inspecting the horse on a number of occasions, Freedman almost instantly knew he was one for him.

“I know everyone says this when they have a good horse, but we bought a lot of Deep Fields at the sale that year and he was one that I really loved,” explained Freedman.

“Anthony Mithen and everyone at Rosemont knows that I must have looked at this horse probably a dozen times. He was not a $1 million-type as a physical, but his movement was like a $1 million-type and he just had a swagger about him when he walked. I said to Bon from very early on that he was one I really liked.”

The colt was eventually purchased for $260,000 and he was one of four colts by the Newgate Farm resident Bon Ho bought at the sale that year.

“We got him for a little under the sale average for that year and for Deep Fields at that point he was starting to get a bit of traction in Hong Kong,” said Freedman.

“I have been fortunate enough to be associated with good horses throughout my life, without training them, but when one really takes your eye and it is in the ballpark that the client can buy for you, so start thinking about it. He is by no means the most expensive horse Bon Ho has ever bought, but when I started in Scone, a $260,000 horse was like a Mercedes Benz to me.”

Freedman said while the colt was not built like a typical Deep Field yearling, the trainer was immediately drawn in by his flawless movement.

“He wasn’t a typical progeny of the sire. I love seeing strong hocks and a strong hindquarter and he has both of them. Although he wasn’t a big horse, he moved like a big horse. He was a well-put-together horse and everything was in proportion.

“Matt Vella broke him in at the time and we agreed that he was the best of the group of horses we bought at the sale in terms of the Deep Fields,” said Freedman.

“Now when we go back to the sales and look at the Deep Fields we look for ones similar to him. He is a little bit of a leaner type and is not necessarily the heavy, strong, muscled up type, he is a lighter more athletic type of horse.

“A lot of the Deep Fields do move really well, but we certainly look for the more athletic types rather than the more heavy-set types. Like all good stallions, Deep Field can produce horses in all different shapes and sizes, but for us personally we prefer the lighter-framed, more athletic-type horses.”

Early talent

Fashion Legend has more than proved time and again to have been a sound investment for his connections. Having broken his maiden at the second attempt at Grafton as a 2-year-old, he finished second on his first start as a 3-year-old, a performance he followed up by running third on his second start this preparation.

However, after getting his head in front for the first time as a 3-year-old at Gosford on November 30, Fashion Legend and the Freedmans have not looked back. After that win, he triumphed at Eagle Farm, before snaring his first stakes win in the G3 Vo Rogue Plate on December 31.

Despite the picket fence form her brought to Thursday’s $2 million contest, the gelding was somewhat unfancied in the betting leaving the gates as the largely unadorned $21 shot, a price that puzzled both his trainers.

“After his win at Eagle Farm against the older horses he was sitting just below the threshold in terms of prizemoney so we decided that the Vo Rogue Plate was a good testing point to see if he is up to that sort of form,” explained Freedman. “When he was successful there we decided to have a crack at the stumps (in the Magic Millions).

“Funnily enough, it turned out that the more he won the longer his price got. I didn’t know what more he could have done, other than to win his previous three races. After the Vo Rouge we were confident he could perform well at the Gold Coast.

“I think people forgot how tough he did in the Vo Rouge, he was on pace and then there was a breakaway leader and carted the field up to the leader and then was a sitting duck at the 350 and then toughed it out.”

While the price he opened at never had the Freedmans questioning whether they had set the horse on the right path, it did cast the ever so slight doubt in the mind of the gelding’s owner.

“Bon Ho never put too much pressure on us to run him in the race and when he came up 20-1, I had to convince him he was a chance in the race because I thought the market had slightly got it wrong on the day,” said Freedman.

Faith vindicated

However, the faith Will and Richard showed in the horse was vindicated when he reeled in leader Spiritualised (Spirit Of Boom), to come away with a 0.3l triumph over Yellow Brick (The Mission), handing the younger Freedman a day he won’t forget in a hurry.

“It is definitely the most high-profile win I’ve been involved in personally, Richard is obviously a little different, he’s had a bit of success elsewhere. But for me personally, it was breathtaking. It was also great to have my cousin Emma there as well, that meant a lot too,” said Freedman.

“As a lot of people in the industry will know that the Freedman dynamic can be strained at times, but when each of them have success each of them are happy for one another. It was by far the biggest win so far and I think it was pretty special for my old man as well, the fact we were able to do it together.

“It is humbling when someone of Bon Ho’s stature is willing to essentially give you a bit of blind faith and blind trust, so to be able to repay him yesterday (Thursday) was great because I’m sure there had been a few people telling him that I wasn’t the logical decision at the time.”

Following his exploits on the Gold Coast on Thursday, Fashion Legend himself has now been sent for a well-deserved spell and all options for the gelding remain open, including continuing his career in Hong Kong, a jurisdiction progeny of Deep Field have shown real aptitude for.

“Hong Kong is definitely on the books if Bon Ho wants to take him there to race and I am obviously always supportive of wherever he thinks his best value is,” said Freedman.

“We had a brief discussion after the race and the plan now is to give him a six-to-eight-week spell and let him get over what has been a remarkable preparation and put on some good condition. We will then bring him back and I suspect we will see him back in the spring and see where he measures up.

“If he is maybe a fraction below the topliners then he may find his way to Hong Kong, but if he can manage to match it with the top horses I think there is plenty of prizemoney on offer here for him.”