Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
With 42 winners to their name this season, father and son training duo Anthony & Sam Freedman are well on their way to recording their most successful season since joining forces in 2020.
Anthony and Sam Freedman have trained 42 winners this season already at a winning strike rate of 22 per cent.
They have claimed two Group 1 winners and a further three stakes winners this season.
They are the leading Victorian stable by winning strike rate and prizemoney per starter.
The father son duo have won 46 stakes races since they formed their partnership at the start of the 2020/21 racing season.
Just four months into the current racing year, the Mornington-based horsemen have added a G1 Melbourne Cup, G1 Caulfield Cup and multiple stakes events to their fast-growing mantlepiece.
| 2023/24 | 42 | 190 | 22% | $10,568,265.00 |
| 2022/23 | 55 | 341 | 16% | $5,497,865.00 |
| 2021/22 | 69 | 393 | 18% | $7,859,370.00 |
| 2020/21 | 75 | 472 | 16% | $8,616,195.00 |
Table: Anthony and Sam Freedman's results by season
At this early point in the season, the father-son duo have claimed 42 winners and accumulated over $10 million in earnings which is already double that of last year’s effort. Maintaining a winning strike rate of 22 per cent, the partnership is winning races at a far superior rate than last season (16 per cent).
| 1. Ciaron Maher & David Eustace | 91 | 589 | 15% | $14,406,145.00 | $24,459.00 |
| 2. Ben, Will & JD Hayes | 67 | 430 | 16% | $6,895,235.00 | $16,035.00 |
| 3. Mick Price & Michael Kent Jnr | 59 | 306 | 19% | $2,982,168.00 | $9,746.00 |
| 4. Danny O'Brien | 45 | 224 | 20% | $3,111,215.00 | $13,889.00 |
| 5. Anthony & Sam Freedman | 41 | 185 | 22% | $10,510,715.00 | $56,815.00 |
| 6. Peter Moody & Katherine Coleman | 40 | 263 | 15% | $3,332,815.00 | $12,672.00 |
| 7. Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young | 36 | 253 | 14% | $3,016,120.00 | $11,921.00 |
| 8. Symon Wilde | 34 | 215 | 16% | $1,682,920.00 | $7,828.00 |
| 9. Paul Preusker | 32 | 220 | 15% | $1,957,625.00 | $8,898.00 |
| 10. Robbie Griffiths & Mathew de Kock | 31 | 178 | 17% | $1,892,950.00 | $10,635.00 |
Table: 2023/24 Victorian Trainers' Premiership standings by winners
Taking a look at the current Victorian Trainers' Premiership, Anthony and Sam Freedman are sitting in fifth place and firmly maintaining the state’s best winning strike rate (22 per cent) ahead of Danny O’Brien (20 per cent) and Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr (19 per cent). While their $10.5 million in earnings is largely influenced by Without A Fight’s (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) $5.06 million collect in the G1 Melbourne Cup, Anthony and Sam Freedman continue to out-perform their peers in respect to prizemoney per start. Not counting the prizemoney accumulated from the Melbourne Cup, the partnership significantly outperforms their peers in regards to prizemoney per starter ($29,000).
Since joining forces at the start of the 2020/21 racing season, Anthony and Sam Freedman have claimed 46 stakes events including six at Group 1 level. The partnership’s best stint occured in their first training season when they claimed 18 stakes wins including the G1 Blue Diamond S. with the now Newgate resident stallion Artorius and the G1 Australian Cup with Homesman (USA) (War Front {USA}). Just a year into their training partnership, the Godolphin-raced Daumier claimed the pair a second G1 Blue Diamond S. winner and continued their reputation as one of the country’s best trainers of 2-year-olds. Outside of the Blue Diamond, the Freedman's have prepared winners of both colts and fillies versions of the Blue Diamond Preview with De Sonic Boom (Spirit Of Boom) and Daumier both victorious in respective editions. Other stakes-winning 2-year-olds trained by the Anthony and Sam Freedman combination include Listed St. Albans S. winner Crosswinds (Written Tycoon), Listed Cinderalla S. winner Bistro (Street Boss {USA}) and Listed Redoute’s Choice S. winner Cannonball (Capitalist).
While they are proven producer’s of elite juveniles, Anthony and Sam Freedman’s 46 stakes victories to date have occurred over every distance range. There is no bias towards any distance range with the father son duo training 16 stakes winners over short-course trips (1200 metres or less), 19 over middle-distance trips (1201 metres to 2000 metres) and 11 stakes winners over staying trips of 2000 metres and beyond. A further 14 of their black-type winners occurred at staying trips of 2001 metres and beyond.
A name steeped in racing with a list of success too long to mention, the Anthony and Sam Freedman training partnership are certainly making a name in their own right. With a potential career best season ahead, the Mornington-based pair have plenty to look forward to as we look towards the autumn carnivals.
