Victorian Racing Tribunal hands Anthony and Sam Freedman 28-day disqualification

Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything

The Victorian Racing Tribunal has handed down a 28-day disqualification to Anthony and Sam Freedman for the raceday nebulisation of two horses in August 2025. In their judgement, the VRT issued a stern warning to the rest of the industry that similar future breaches will not be dealt with as lightly.

Special circumstances limit sentence terms

During the final hearing on July 1, Victorian Racing Tribunal chairman Magistrate Peter Reardon issued the 28-day sanction to Anthony and Sam Freedman for a breach of AR 249, which rules that no medication or treatment can be administered on race day.

An inspection of the Freedmans’ Cranbourne stable by stewards on August 16 led to a steward witnessing Moonhaven (Shalaa {Ire}), who was entered to race on the day, being nebulised after scratching time. Further investigation established that Kira (Lonhro) had also been nebulised that morning.

Both horses were scratched from their respective races. Sam Freedman was not present at the time of administration, but accepted full responsibility for the event at the earliest opportunity.

The breach of AR 249 is a serious offence that is referred straight to the Tribunal and typically carries a mandatory six-month disqualification, unless special circumstances are indicated during investigation. The early guilty plea and full co-operation with investigations led to the Tribunal reducing the disqualification to 28 days, in combination with a $1500 fine for horse treatment records being not up to date.

In transcript excerpts shared by racenet.com, the Tribunal acknowledged the “very significant impact” a disqualification would have on a training operation of the Freedmans’ scale, including the loss of income “not only (for) the respondents (trainers) but also their employees”.

As reported in the Tribunal hearing, the Freedmans’ operation employs 60 staff between their Melbourne and Sydney bases, with more than 100 horses in work at a time. They pay out upwards of $4 million in wages annually and $480,000 annual in stable leases.

“The tribunal is aware of the probable consequences of disqualification and does take into these matters as well as their endeavours to improve stable practices to prevent recurrences of similar offences,” Reardon said.

“The tribunal does not find these offences were a result of systemic failure in the training operation, but there does appear to be a degree of laxness creeping into the Cranbourne operation regarding their race day procedures.”

Reardon indicated that the penalty should serve as a warning to other trainers in the jurisdiction to ensure that all staff are properly trained and aware of raceday procedures.

“The tribunal does accept mistakes and errors can occur in honest and well-run operations,” he said. “Nevertheless… (that) does not diminish the paramount or overarching position of racing in this state is to maintain the integrity of the sport which is essential for its good reputation to provide a level playing field with drug free sport as well as having regard for the welfare of the horses.

“Therefore breaches of this rule will incur significant penalties there for general and specific deterrence… However this case does have some uniqueness to it for reasons outlined, and the penalties about to be handed down will be significantly less than ones applied in the future.

“Future offenders cannot expect to receive similar breaches of administration offences and these penalties about to be imposed cannot be seen as a precedent for subsequent breaches of this rule, trainers are now on notice of the consequences of breaching administration offences."

The disqualification will commence on Thursday, July 2, and expire on July 30.

Freedmans stand by stable staff

The training partnership put out a statement via their social media channels on Wednesday morning after the verdict was reported by several news outlets.

“An oversight occurred at our Cranbourne stable (on August 16) whereby two horses were administered a nebuliser treatment on race morning,” the statement read.

"Consistent with the stables' statement in August 2025, we take full responsibility for the oversight. We take pride in our operation's integrity and the strength of our systems, but unfortunately on this occasion there was an inadvertent stable error.

“We have cooperated openly with the stewards and regulatory body throughout the investigation, consistent with the respect we hold for the governing body and the integrity of the rules of racing.

“Although the team are understandably disappointed by the penalties imposed, we have both accepted the outcome and have confidence in the respected and competent team who will manage the operation during the interim period.”

The statement announced that Clayton Douglas would take over the stable’s horses for the period of the disqualification, with the training and welfare to remain unchanged while in his care. The statement sought to reassure owners that they could expect the level of professionalism to be maintained by the stable under Douglas’s stewardship.

“We would like to publicly state that we stand by our stable staff, they work long hours, they take pride in their work and are fully committed to the care and wellbeing to (sic) our bloodstock,” the statement continued.

“Our priority is ensuring the team continues to cooperate with Racing Victoria to meet their requirements across the interim period, whilst managing a seamless transition for bloodstock, staff and owners. We are both looking forward to the opportunity to be relicensed and getting back to work.”

Horses already listed in Douglas’s care include Al Duca (Al Maher), who will contest Saturday’s Listed Winter Championship Series Final, and Vestas (Toronado {Ire}), who will run in the Listed Santa Ana Lane Sprint Series Final on the same card. Vestas was a $600,000 acquisition for Kia Ora Stud at the recent Inglis Chairman's Sale.