Group 1 Toorack Handicap winner Attrition

Connections of Attrition after winning the Hyland Race Colours Toorak Handicap at Caulfield Racecourse on October 14, 2023

"Unbelievable, what an effort from the team everyone takes a massive part in it."
"You know, this is what we get up in the morning to do. We always new he was up to this level, aided by a brilliant ride from a jockey that's well and truly on the rise. How good!" - Mitch Freedman

Congratulations to all involved! 

Listen in and stay informed with Mitch Freedman and Racing Manager Alex Ross

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Winners Circle

Star Honour breaks maiden October 30 Benalla 1206m   Mulwala Water Ski Club 4YO+ Maiden Jockey: Tahlia Hope

Skybird wins three from three October 28 Moonee Valley 1600m  Group 2, 3 Point Motors Fillies Classic Jockey: Beau Mertens

Capre Omnia overcomes tough run to break maiden  October 22 Seymour 1200m   Go Nagambie 4YO+ Maiden Plate Jockey: Johnny Allen

Group 1 Toorak Handicap winner Attrition October 14 Caulfield 1600m   Hyland Race Colours Toorak Handicap Jockey: Beau Mertens

Skybird shows class above October 8 Bendigo 1300m   Apiam Animal Health BM64 Handicap Jockey: Beau Mertens

2023/24 racing season is underway, thus far we have had 56 stable runners

   1ST     |        12 
2ND      |         6
3RD      |         6

Freedman savours dual delight

Ballarat trainer Mitchell Freedman set himself two ambitious goals for the weekend, late on Sunday morning he was exhausted but elated he could fullfill them both.

A breath-taking battle up the straight between Attrition and Antino resulted in Attrition holding on by the narrowest margins to win the Group 1 Toorak Handicap. The tensions were high and after being on the wrong end of two photo finishes, it was pure elation for Mitch, the ownership group and jockey Beau Mertens, for his maiden Group 1 also.

Freedman re-calls the day he first laid eyes on Attrition at the sales and promised himself that he was the one. Paying $180,000 for the colt, his most expensive purchase to date, Freedman syndicated the horse to some loyal stable clients and was thrilled to have them along for the ride, culminating in Group 1 success. Attrition races in the Halo Racing colours of Mr Colin McKenna and includes a number of owners who have supported the Mitch Freedman stable from day one. “I’m so grateful for the support the ownership group and it is an honour to win a Group 1 for them.”

The first goal was to land his first Group 1 win in the Toorak Handicap with $26 chance Attrition and after that was achieved in stunning style on Saturday, he turned his attention not to celebrating, but to what lay ahead for him on Sunday.

Freedman then took the plunge to contest his first marathon around Melbourne on Sunday.
“I didn’t train for so long for it (marathon) to get out and celebrate and ruin it,” Freedman said after the run. “We just went out for a bit of dinner, but we’ll have a nice celebration this afternoon. It was certainly a win worth celebrating.”

Freedman carved out a time of three hours and 21 minutes for the marathon, which was well within the time he thought he’d run. “It (time) wasn’t too impressive. My first goal was just to finish and then hopefully run about 3.30s, so it went pretty well,” he said.

“I definitely didn’t go out hard and probably found it hardest just with two or three kilometres left to go. I train on my own and I ran on my own as I did last year when I did the half-marathon.”

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Sky's the limit for Freedman filly

Skybird ridden by Beau Mertens wins the Apiam Animal Health BM64 Handicap at Bendigo Racecourse on October 08, 2023

Mitch Freedman’s successful spring carnival continued when his three-year-old filly Skybird made it three wins from three starts after she came from an awkward position to win the Group 2 Moonee Valley Fillies Classic (1600m, 3yo fillies).

Freedman combined with Beau Mertens again, as they did when they won the Toorak Handicap, and the trainer said it was another great ride.

“He (Mertens) can’t do much wrong for us at the moment,” Freedman said.

"It all just makes it a bit easier when you get winners on these sort of days."

Mertens said he was happy to ride a patient race and follow Carina Queen into the race.

“She’s such a professional and handles herself so well,” the jockey said.

Congratulations to connections! 

For more information phone Alex Ross | +61 447 085 802

Capre Omnia Superior at Seymour

Race replay of Capre Omnia ridden by John Allen winning Go Nagambie 4YO+ Maiden Plate at Seymour Racecourse on October 22

The lightly raced Capre Omnia was an impressive winner at Seymour on September 22, justifying his short favouritism to salute at his fourth start.

The son of Headwater has been a consistent performer at each start, finishing within a length of the winner both times in his first campaign and first up this preparation finished fourth out of a strong form race, with 2^nd and 3^rd both coming out to win in their next start.

Capre Omnia had to do it the hard way after not beginning as well as planned and settled in the back half of the field. Taking his medicine, Capre Omnia built into the race strongly and hit even more strife in the straight, getting severely hampered by horses shifting out but was still far too good in the final 100m, winning by over a length, eased down.

Whilst only a maiden, the win was very satisfying for Freedman who has had to play the long game with Capre Omnia. After being purchased from Inglis Classic in 2021, he suffered an injury setback, resulting in Freedman maintaining a larger than anticipated share in the horse, but the patience has now paid off and the team now reaping the rewards. “He’s got enough talent and even though he’s taken a little while, hopefully he can win a few races.”

Amongst the ownership group is a first-time winning owner, Jude Almedia. Mr Almedia has had three horses with the Freedman stable and unfortunately had no luck with the first two horses, so a very pleasing result to see Capre Omnia win, and look like he has plenty more in store.

Thank you to Mr Almedia for his loyal support of the stable and we are glad that we could repay the faith. Keep an eye out for Capre Omnia over the spring as a horse who looks like he will rapidly rise through the grades.

Congratulations to connections of Capre Omina!

Southern Moon continues to excel off the race track

Over the weekend the now retired Gr1 Victoria Derby runner up Southern Moon attended a show with Kate Newton, with the pair going on to collect four champion ribbons.

Kate Newton explained, “Goggles and I were lucky enough to win the highest placed Off The Track Thoroughbred, winning our first ever Garland and trophy as a combination.”

“He then carried me around the rider class where I went on to win Champion Rider, followed by Supreme Rider of the show.”

“He took everything in his stride, it was his first time with a Garland on but he definitely knew how to show it off!” We can’t wait to see what this duo does next!

Owner of the Month Micheal Scalzo

Michael, Quinn and David Scalzo

It’s a family affair for Quinn Scalzo and his two sons Michael and David, who together have raced around 20 horses over the years. Michael explains from his experience, that racing is at its best with family and great friends.
 
“There’s plenty of frustrating moments in racing, but the highs are just so much better when you’re sharing it with people that you know and love. You can really embrace those special moments because you’re really comfortable.”
 
“Dad led the charge back in the early 80’s when he got into racehorses through a work colleague, finding a real passion for it. The first horse we owned was trained by Robbie Lang and she won her first three races.” 
 
“She set some pretty high expectations very early on, which was very hard to live up to for the horses that followed.”
 
“Horse racing has been one of the family's quiet passions over the years, our involvement has been fairly consistent while spreading our horses among various trainers. A mutual friend of ours spoke very highly of Mitch, and suggested we give the stable a try. We got in touch with Mitch and he bought three horses for us at the sales in 2022, and here we are.”
 
“Racing on Cox Plate day with one of those horses, to then witness such an exciting race unfold. Particularly the final 300 metres. Skybird is easily our highlight in racing so far, I think if you were to ask all the owners what has been their best memory in racing, they’d probably all say the same thing.”
 
“I reckon we’ve watched the replay 100 times each. All of the owners were on course. Even one owner all the way from Singapore, he flew in that morning and he’ll be back in time for her to run in the Thousand Guineas”. 
 
“In the winners room after the race you could just tell how much it meant to everyone. With all the owners there, Mitch with his children and Alex with his partner. It was just extraordinary."
 
“You could tell it meant just as much to them, as it did to us. That’s a lovely memory, all the owners are speaking very highly of that experience.”
 
“During our time in racing spanning forty plus years, our time with Mitch’s stable has been very fulfilling. There's a great bunch of owners in Skybird, it’s been far more enjoyable and far more intimate and engaging.”

“It’s just been an awesome experience, we couldn’t speak more highly of Mitch and his team.”
 
When looking to purchase new stock, over the years Micheal says they’ve learnt to leave the pointy end of business to the experts. “We were after a middle distance horse, within our budget. Mitch was very disciplined during the purchasing process, he really honoured the financial boundaries that we’d asked him to abide by.”
 
“That was all the confirmation we needed to know there would be great chemistry. From very early on we were getting a great vibe on how Mitch was thinking and acting as our representative out of the market place and the momentum has continued.”

Race replay of Skybird ridden by Beau Mertens wins the 3 Point Motors Fillies Classic at Moonee Valley Racecourse on October 28

Photo highlights from the month