Latest news with #LeeFreedman
News.com.au
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Champion jockey Glen Boss pays tribute to semi-retired legendary trainer Lee Freedman
Twenty years after Lee Freedman's famous Melbourne Cup quote, champion jockey Glen Boss revealed he believed the legendary trainer's 'find the smallest child' remark was completely off the cuff. Shortly after the great mare Makybe Diva had won a record third straight Melbourne Cup carrying 58kg at Flemington, Freedman came up with the line that will be forever etched in the history of the race that stops a nation. 'Go out and find the smallest child here because that child might be the only person who lives long enough to see something like this again,' Freedman said at the time. For Boss, the clever comment encapsulated the trainer's razor-sharp wit and intelligence that helped him jag 124 Group 1s and cemented his standing as a household name in Australia. , opting not to renew his trainer's licence for the new racing season. He is now solely the manager of his Gold Coast stable, which has been handed over to his younger brother and Sydney trainer Michael Freedman. Boss chatted to Racenet this week about the profound effect that Lee Freedman and his brothers Anthony, Richard and Michael had on his illustrious career which ended in 2021. Hall of Fame trainer Freedman gave Boss his big break in 1995 on Flying Spur, who the Queenslander rode to victory in the Golden Slipper just a few days after Jim Cassidy's licence had been disqualified due to the 'jockey tapes' scandal. 'Until you sit back and look at his record, you forget how great this bloke was,' Boss said from South Africa, where the retired hoop is holidaying with his family. 'His sense of timing was always good. 'I mean that pivotal moment when the mare (Makybe Diva) won in the Cup in 2005 and he said that line 'go find the smallest child', those sort of things go down in history. 'I don't think he scripted that, I think it came straight out of his mouth. 'I remember seeing Lee around parties and things like that and he's a funny guy with a great sense of humour. 'He's great company and super intelligent to talk to. Not that many people would've got to see the fun side of Lee.' Lee Freedman won five Melbourne Cups, with Boss on board for two of those victories on Makybe Diva in 2004 and 2005, plus four Caulfield Cups, four Golden Slippers and two Cox Plates. 'Having been around him and observed him a fair bit, Lee has an incredible eye for detail which never ceases to amaze me,' said the 55-year-old Boss, who won 90 Group 1s. 'He always knew exactly where his horses were and how to push the button at the right time. 'It'd amaze me how he'd just look at a horse and say 'yep, we're ready now' or he'd say 'nup, we need to do one more thing'. 'He was never set to a pattern with a horse. He'd change his mind on the fly and he had unbelievable instincts.' As the driving force behind the famous Freedman Brothers Incorporated (FBI), Lee played a key role in bringing then-teenage apprentice jockey Damien Oliver from Perth to Melbourne in 1990 when he won the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas on Centro for the powerful stable. Oliver and the Freedmans combined for a superb 24 elite-level victories in the 1990s, including champion stayer Doriemus winning the Melbourne Cup-Caulfield Cup double in 1995. 'They played a big part in getting me over to Melbourne and gave me fantastic opportunities as a young apprentice,' said Oliver, who won an Australian record 129 Group 1s. 'Lee and all the brothers were very ambitious and that sort of shone through to me. 'I was a bit like that anyway but they really brought that side out of me.'
News.com.au
17-07-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Former star apprentice Vincent Hall chasing maiden Flemington winner with recent recruit Dubai Watch
Successful jockey turned trainer Vincent Hall says racing has been good to him but the game could produce another high for him at Flemington on Saturday. Hall steered home more than 400 winners in a riding career that included winning the Melbourne apprentices' title and riding the great Makybe Diva to her first three Australian wins when his uncle David trained the mare before leaving for Hong Kong. Makybe Diva went on to win three Melbourne Cups for the Lee Freedman stable while increasing weight forced Hall to retire from race riding in 2006. Hall subsequently headed west to work in the mines but racing has been in his family for generations as his uncle Greg and cousin Nick were champion flat jockeys while his father Ron was a star jumps rider. Training is also in Hall's blood as previous generations of his family were successful trainers. 'I did seven years on the mines in WA and, after that length of time over there, I just got sick of it,' Hall said. 'I started a two-week on, one-week on roster, and I started riding work for my good mate Nick Ryan on my weeks off and got the bug back. 'I rode work for a while then started doing pre-training on the side and decided to get my trainer's licence.' Hall has started well, winning seven races from 42 starters, but could notch his biggest win to date with Dubai Watch in the VRC Member Gerald Jongebloed Trophy (1700m). Dubai Watch has finished strongly to win his last two starts to earn a crack at Saturday's $150,000 race. 'He was a bit quirky when he got to us,' Hall said. 'He was a bit funny with his head and did a few things wrong but his trackrider, my fiancee Briar Stobie, has straightened him out and he's more tractable. 'All his three runs for me have been very good. He's just bounced out of the gates, relaxed and his last half has been the best. 'Something has just clicked and he's been a lucky pick-up for us.' The Mornington-based Hall said a lack of suitable options elsewhere prompted him to have a crack at a Flemington race, adding Dubai Watch would be suited racing against his own age after beating older horses at his last two runs. Irrespective of the result of Saturday's Flemington contest, Hall said the aim was to add a few more horses to the seven-strong team he and Stobie prepared. 'I love game and it has been good to me,' Hall said. 'It's pretty tough. I wouldn't say it's an easy game but I'm enjoying it and we're slowly building up. 'Things are going in the right direction, I think.'
News.com.au
14-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
2024 Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Robbie Dolan again shines at Ipswich
Robbie Dolan was the king of Ipswich two days after winning last year's Melbourne Cup and he was the toast of the town again on Wednesday when he scored the rescheduled $105,000 Bat Out Of Hell. Dolan was posing for pictures and signing autographs – as well as riding a winner – at Ipswich last November when he took the Melbourne Cup trophy he won for Knight's Choice two days earlier to the track west of Brisbane. Fast forward to this week and the Irish-born jockey was partnering Flag Hall, trained by fellow Melbourne Cup-winning legend Lee Freedman, to victory in the Bat Out Of Hell (1100m). The race had been rescheduled from last Saturday's Hollindale Stakes card when it had been meant to be the final race of the day but was washed out as the heavens opened on the Gold Coast. Not that it mattered to Dolan or Freedman who enjoyed the win on the sprinter who started $6 at Ipswich. Flag Hall plunged in weight from when he had carried 62kg at his previous start at Eagle Farm – he only had 52kg on his back at Ipswich. 🦇 The Bat Out Of Hell at @IpswichTurfClub belongs to Flag Hall for @ZRKD and @freedman_lee! ðŸ'� @RaceQLD — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 14, 2025 • Wet the key to Wealth in Group 1 Doomben 10,000 'He is too good of a horse to have 52kg and he quickened up really well, he probably could have won by further,' Dolan told Sky Thoroughbred Central. Dolan has been invited to ride in this year's Shergar Cup at Ascot, with jockeys from all over the globe set to converge on Ascot for the six-race series in August. He has been selected to ride on the Great Britain and Ireland team. Meanwhile, an exciting 'brute' of a two-year-old colt who is a half brother to $975,000 earner El Morzillo did it the tough way and dug deep to score the 2YO Handicap (1100m) at Ipswich. Holy chip! A close finish at @IpswichTurfClub sees Guac On ðŸ¥' claim victory over Green Spring! @schweidaracing | @RaceQLD — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 14, 2025 Guac On drifted alarmingly in betting, from $5 to $10 before trimming back in to start $7.50. Kelly Schweida trains the young colt and also puts the polish on his older half sister El Morzillo, the filly who won a $1m restricted race at Flemington and holds a nomination for the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap. Guac On bungled his debut run terribly last month at Doomben, when started the $1.85 favourite, but the Ipswich triumph made it two wins in a row. • Beefed-up World Pool presence to showcase Qld to globe Starting from the widest barrier, Noel Callow surged the colt to the lead in the Ipswich straight and he clung on as well-backed $2.60 favourite Green Spring charged late. 'I couldn't believe the price today when he got out to $10, I thought that was crazy,' Schweida said. 'Like his half sister, El Morzillo, I think he will be better when he is ridden quietly but we couldn't do that today. 'He is a bit of a beast and he's a bit of a bully. He's a brute.' Guac On's victory was the first leg of a winning treble for Callow, who also took out a 1680m Class 4 aboard the Chris Waller -trained Super Chilled and a 1200m Class 4 on Aldolfito for Eagle Farm conditioner Matthew Hoysted.
