Lee Freedman
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Lee Freedman | |
---|---|
Occupation | Thoroughbred racehorse trainer |
Born | Sydney, Australia | 12 August 1956
Racing awards | |
Australian Racing Hall of Fame (2003) | |
Significant horses | |
Doriemus Makybe Diva Miss Andretti Mummify Subzero Super Impose Tawrrific |
David Lee Freedman (born 12 August 1956) is an Australian
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Makybe_Diva_-_trackwork_02.jpg/220px-Makybe_Diva_-_trackwork_02.jpg)
Early life
Freedman was born 12 August 1956, in Sydney to Anthony William and Estelle Dawn Freedman.
Lee Freedman gained an interest in racing at a young age when his father Tony took up horse
Educated at
Beginnings as a trainer
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Freedman quickly tired of this, and decided to branch out on his own as a horse trainer, initially setting up stables at Warwick Farm in Sydney. Training only a small team of horses, Freedman and stable foreman and brother Anthony found it difficult to train winners at Warwick Farm, where facilities were inferior to those at Sydney's premier track, Randwick.
Freedman purchased the stable and home vacated by outstanding trainer
Early success
![]() | This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (May 2023) |
Freedman's step towards training stardom came in the
The early to mid 90s marked Freedman's most successful era as a trainer. In this time, he trained a number of outstanding gallopers, including outstanding sprinter Schillaci, quality mare Mannerism, Mahogany, who won Group One races from 1000m to 2500m, as well as Melbourne Cup winners
Controversy
![]() | This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (May 2023) |
In this time Freedman was not immune from controversy. In March 1995 he was found guilty of substituting a horse in a barrier trial. To gain permission to run a horse, Central Express, in
Another scandal to hit Freedman involved his outstanding three-year-old, Encosta De Lago, before the Bill Stutt Stakes at Moonee Valley in September 1996. The colt returned a test over the legal limit to the performance-enhancing substance TC02, or bicarbonate. A second test confirmed the result, however a third was ordered, which was also over the legal limit, but within the accepted margin of error. Encosta De Lago was allowed to run, and won the race easily. Although no action was taken against Freedman, it would be a significant distraction to the stable.
Setbacks and resurgence
The Encosta De Lago affair happened to coincide with a decline in the stable's fortunes, although the main reason is more likely the unsuccessful move to Caulfield Racecourse, from Flemington. Between the 1997–98 and 2002–2003 seasons, Freedman trained only fifteen Group One winners. Although by many measures this would be regarded as successful, it was an extremely poor run compared with mid-1990s, where in 1995–96 alone Freedman trained 13 Group One winners.
After the 2000 Melbourne Cup Carnival, during which the stable won only one listed race, Freedman decided to radically change his training set-up. Lee's brother Richard purchased a large piece of land, near Rye, on
This resurgence has been best symbolised by outstanding fillies Alinghi and Special Harmony, classy stayer Mummify, and champion mare Makybe Diva. In 2003 Lee Freedman joined the ranks of Australia's all-time greats when he was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame.[3]
Mummify was one Freedman's favourite horses. Unfashionably bred, he managed to win a South Australian Derby as a three-year-old, but his effort to win the
Freedman took over the training of Makybe Diva in 2004, after
Melbourne Cup's with 'The Diva', taking her to a total of three wins in the Cup, which has never been done in more than 150 years of the race. Makybe Diva was retired after winning her third Melbourne Cup in November 2005.During the 2000s Freedman was regarded as Victoria's premier horse trainer, and along with Bart Cummings, Gai Waterhouse, David A. Hayes and John Hawkes, among Australia's best.
In the 2006–7 season the Freedman-trained sprinter
Following a decline in success for Freedman Brothers, Lee Freedman retired from training in August, 2011.[6] He later admitted the strain of failure had impacted heavily on his personal life.[7] Lee's brothers Anthony and Michael took over training duties at Markdel. Over the ensuing three years, Freedman held various positions in the racing industry including director of racing for Lloyd Williams's Macedon Lodge, a training partnership with Sydney-based Graeme Rogerson and an advisor to Sir Peter Vela's Pencarrow Stud in New Zealand. During this period, Michael Freedman moved to Singapore and Anthony departed Markdel, transferring his training operation to Flemington.
In November 2014 Freedman announced he was returning to training, in partnership with Anthony,[8] with stables at Flemington and Pinecliff, on the Mornington Peninsula. The pair's most successful horses in this period were sprinters Shoals and Santa Ana Lane. In 2017/8 Shoals won three Group 1 races including the Myer Classic in Victoria and the Surround Stakes in Sydney. Santa Ana Lane won five Group 1 races, including South Australia's premier race The Goodwood and Brisbane's premier sprint The Stradbroke Hcp within 3 weeks of each other in 2018.
In mid-2017 Freedman moved to Singapore to train horses there, taking over the stables of New Zealand-born Laurie Laxon.[9] Lee trained the winner of the 2018 Group 1 Singapore Guineas, Mr. Clint.
Partly due to COVID-19 and its effects on Singapore racing, Freedman announced his plan to return to Australia in late 2020. He will be based at the Gold Coast.[10]
Freedman has two daughters, Emma and Georgia, with his ex-wife Janelle.
References
- ^ a b Suzannah Pearce, ed. (17 November 2006). "FREEDMAN (Lee) David Lee". Who's Who in Australia Live!. North Melbourne, Vic: Crown Content Pty Ltd.
- ^ Andrew Rule, "The stayer", The Age, 4 November 2006, "Good Weekend", p. 33
- ^ Freedman joins the famous
- ^ 2004 Melbourne Cup result
- ^ 2005 Melbourne Cup result
- ^ "Lee Freedman Retires From Training". www.races.com.au. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
- ^ Stewart, Matt (3 October 2013). "champion-trainer-lee-freedman-opens-up-about-how-he-stumbled-from-everest-to-the-bottle". Herald Sun. News Corp. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
- ^ "Racing trainer Lee Freedman comes out of retirement to join his brother Anthony". ABC News. 17 November 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
- ^ "Lee Freedman in Singapore to Stay". Racing.com. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ "Lee Freedman to returns home to train on the Gold Coast". Sydney Morning Herald. 24 December 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
- Hutchison, Garrie. They're racing! The complete story of Australian racing.(1999)
- Lee Freedman article at The Age Company Ltd.
- Australasian Turf Monthly 2005 article on Lee freedman