Mitch Freedman on Training, Travelling and Partnering

0:00 Magic Millions week and a bookmaker grandfather

Steve 0:00 Episode 21 of Off N Racing. I'm here with Group 1 trainer Mitch Freedman. Great to see you Mitch.

Mitch Freedman 0:06 Yeah, great to see you. Great to join you up here at the Magic Millions.

Steve 0:09 So it's been a hell of a week. We're Sunday, so all book one is done. The race day yesterday which blew up due to the weather. It's raining now. There's horses all around us. But how have you found the week?

Mitch Freedman 0:21 Yeah, it's been great. It's obviously a good week to be a part of. Good horses to be sold. You know, top end, top of market. Top of market and, you know, a bit of a party and catch up with owners, catch up with, you know, other trainers. Yeah, it's a really great week.

Steve 0:36 Awesome Mitch. And you've been around horses all over your life. Looking into your, what can you tell me around your grandfather and his role in racing?

Mitch Freedman 0:46 Yeah, so my grandfather was a bookmaker. So despite popular belief and despite the questions I get every horse sale, every race meeting I go to, I am not related to the other Freedmans.

Steve 0:55 That was the easy question to ask and I am not asking that one. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mitch Freedman 1:00 So, no, he was a grandfather. My dad worked on the bag for him with the satchel and obviously, you know, high theatre and action-packed days there. It's actually starting to come back a bit. You know, everyone relies on the phone now and a couple of smaller meetings I've been to recently in Victoria, there's been no phone service. So it's been high theatre in the bookmakers ring and a bit of action and, you know, I think it's much more enjoyable than everyone sitting there looking at their screen. You know, it's a bit more chat about. So, yeah, obviously that's my background. I got to about 15 or so and started working in the stables and got involved as a trainer and took out my ticket about 11 or 12 years ago now.

1:37 Working for the Durdens, Payne and Weir

Steve 1:37 Awesome. And before you took out the ticket, who did you work for and what, I guess, what did you learn from them to sort of give you the motivation to go on your own?

Mitch Freedman 1:46 Yeah. So we originally started with Catherine Craig Durden. Craig Durden was a great jump jockey and Catherine was a great track work rider and a great trainer in her own right. You know, she rode horses like Better Loosen Up in track work and things like that. So she was part of that Hayes team when they were, you know, they're still flying now, but back in those days when they were really flying. And then I worked for Andrew Payne and the Payne family doesn't need any introduction. They're great horse people. So that was a good start for me working hands on to really pick up those horsemanship skills early. Then I went to Darren Weir for a period of time where I worked with him in Ballarat. And then when he opened his Warrnambool stable, I was down there with him and call it what you want, form an assistant trainer. But we were managing a team of sort of 15 to 25 horses down there and had some of his best performers down there. So that was a great time. Then I went overseas for a bit, went and seen Ascot, worked over there and had a terrific time at work for David Simcock, who becomes relevant with light infantry man winning some big races at the moment.

2:50 The Ballarat training facilities

Steve 2:50 He come from his stable. Awesome. And it's almost cyclonic conditions here. So that's the noise that you might hear in the background. You're based at Ballarat. I know you've got some really impressive facilities there. What could you tell us about them?

Mitch Freedman 3:03 Yeah, so we've got variety. It's not a small training centre. It's a really large training centre in the fact that we've, you know, takes half an hour to work a horse. So a lot of time in the saddle, which is, I think, good for them, makes the horses relax and take it all in. And we've got flat tracks. We've got a hill track. We've got all different surfaces, sand, holly, grass. And we're also in the process of installing a wood chip track. So brilliant facilities and nice and spread out. And, you know, the horses are always in that country environment where they're not rushed. They're not on top of each other and the tracks aren't too busy.

3:41 Technology and a younger approach to training

Steve 3:41 Yep. Awesome. And we've partnered with you specifically, you're a young progressive trainer. Do you think you've got different techniques to that older generation or are they similar?

Mitch Freedman 3:52 Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we do use a little bit of technology just to assess things and to keep an eye on things and just, you know, change our training techniques a little bit. Yep. You know, based around the treadmill, based around our hill tracks. And, yeah, we try and use all the facilities at our fingertips and I think it works really well.

4:13 Skybird, Attrition and travelling to Sydney

Steve 4:13 Awesome, mate. And probably your two best horses at the moment, maybe Skybird and Attrition?

Mitch Freedman 4:19 Yeah, they're the best two horses on the racetrack at the moment. And, you know, they've been really good flag bearers for us. One's a group one winner, placed a group one level. And Skybird's placed a group one level and a multiple group two winners. So both bought by the Sable. So, you know, we're trying to point out that we do the job at the Sable level and then we take them away and do the job in training them.

Steve 4:41 Amazing. And you seem to not be afraid to travel horses. I mean, you're at Sydney Metro almost every week.

Mitch Freedman 4:48 Yeah, I mean, it was a busy spring carnival. That's where the prize money was for those horses in that age group. Yep. Both Skybird, you know, she contested the Golden Eagle and Attrition contested the Five Diamonds and the Hill Stakes in Sydney. So, two million, two million, ten million. Yep. It's there. They're the right races for them and we targeted them. We got results in some of them and didn't in some, but we give them a chance at it.

Steve 5:13 And that was my next question. You didn't see that, but you're after the Peter Volandi's prize money.

Mitch Freedman 5:17 Absolutely. I mean, they're prepared to put it on. We're prepared to go and chase it. Yep. And the owners enjoy it. You know, it gives, we try and really look for that club team sort of environment when we've got our owners involved. And, you know, they had tables up there, not dining tables, but tables where they all could gather and mingle. And they've become friends out of having these horses. One's a horse owned by a family and that brings their family together. And they really do enjoy getting together at the races. And it's not that fun to race a horse on your own and have no one else to pat you on the back. So, or celebrate a win with. So, or once again, talk about your losses. So that's what we try and try and have. And those ownership groups have traveled together. They really enjoy it. And we enjoy seeing them come together and being a part of it with them.

6:05 Regular jockeys and the future of jumps racing

Steve 6:05 Good stuff, Mitch. Who are your most regular jockeys and why do you work with those guys?

Mitch Freedman 6:12 We've had a lot of luck with Bo Mertens in recent times. I think he's prepared to follow instructions, prepared to listen to what you're trying to achieve and where the horse is at. And he's got a good understanding of our stable. So we use him quite a bit. Jared Fry has been a stalwart of our stable in the country. Good solid country rider. Good rider in general and done a job for us over many years. Cool.

Steve 6:35 And you mentioned jumps before. I love jumps racing. It always seems under threat. You know, what do you think about jumps?

Mitch Freedman 6:41 Look, I mean, it's a tricky one. There's so many different elements to it. It's a great spectacle at Warrnambool and Warrnambool's got the right track for it. Probably what we have with jumps racing is it seems to be, you know, by the time we get to the end of the season, the track is starting to dry out and the horses tend to go a bit quick in my opinion. And, yeah, that's when we probably run into issues. But, you know, our horses aren't purpose-bred like they are overseas. So, you know, jumps racing has always got challenges. You know, I hope it keeps going and we can keep prepping these horses up for it. But, yeah, I mean, it's all about it being able to fund itself and all about, you know, whether people are enjoying it and whether it's got its public license.

7:25 Magic Millions purchases and the partnership

Steve 7:25 So we've agreed to, you know, hypothetically partner again this year, Mitch, that we've inspected yearlings. We've inspected yearlings. We cross over. Unfortunately, we didn't land any at this sale at the partnership and there's more sales to come. But you've got two really nice horses to come away with that you bought yourself. 130, which is the Hellbent Cult.

Mitch Freedman 7:46 Yeah. So, look, Hellbent, he's probably been better with his fillies. I'm not going to beat around the bush. But I just come to the sales. I look at as many horses as I can. I try and just buy the ones that I think are athletically capable of becoming good race horses. And I know he just stood out for me from the get-go. I really like the way he moved. I really like the angles he had. I really like the attitude he had. And I just thought that he had a lot of improvement to come. And I thought he was going to develop into a really nice later two-year-old, three-year-old and the type of horses we want to have in the stable. So we went and grabbed him and, you know, we look at the, you know, we look at the type and then, you know, we look at the pedigrees and, you know, it's been a pretty good cross Hellbent over exceeding Excel. And we were prepared to dive in a little bit cheaper than the sale average. And we thought we'd come away with a nice bargain buy.

Steve 8:36 And 784 Bivouac looks a really nice filly. Yeah, she does.

Mitch Freedman 8:41 I mean, Bivouac, I think he's a little bit later to come to the party. They're starting to see him at the jump outs and the trials and starting to see him on the racetrack. He had a good winner in Perth yesterday. Very impressive horse. Iramar's bought up here at the sale. That's a pretty good sign that there's some to come from him. So we really like the filly. We shot, once again, nice athlete, nice angles, nice shape and good improvement to come. Unfortunately, as you said, we didn't land on any together. We landed on a couple, but they were just a bit out of our reach. And we've got plenty of sales ahead. So we'll team up this year at some point in time.

9:16 Missing out on the Home Affairs filly

Steve 9:16 And you were under bidder on the Home Affairs Sunlight Philly. Just missed out?

Mitch Freedman 9:19 Yeah, just missed out. I think 3.2 was the price. I think I might have tapped out at about 300. So no, we weren't involved there. But yeah, I mean, it's great to see for the industry that we've got those big guys involved and a new batch of them. That's what we need. You know, there's always new players to it. And yeah, it's been great to see those players really, really put their hands up and be involved. And you know, it keeps the wheel turning.

9:44 The Tagaloa filly's progress

Steve 9:44 And you sort of touched on what you're looking for, an athlete. And that's what we bought last year at the Adelaide Magic Millions, that Tagaloa Philly, you know her as Jasmine in the stables. Yeah, she's sticking along all right.

Mitch Freedman 9:58 She's had a couple of little preps, nothing too serious. We think that she's probably going to need to wait until she gets to 3. So we're just all about educating, putting the right grounding in, doing a little bit of faster work to promote some growth and, you know, promote that bone density and just do all the right things so that when you're ready to step into them a bit more and test them out, they're ready to go. So that's the stage she's at at the moment. And she's been back in the stable probably six or eight weeks or something. And she's just doing a bit of faster work now and a bit of barrier work. And she's handling it all good. Great.

10:32 The race Mitch most wants to win

Steve 10:32 And I love your communication. That's what our owners are looking for and, you know, amazing communication. So thank you. If there's a race you'd love to win, what is it?

Mitch Freedman 10:40 I mean, I think the Cox Plate's the race you want to win. I'm not sure how the changes to Moody Valley will affect the atmosphere and whatnot of that race. But I mean, it's the Waite Frades Championship of Australia. It's a great spectacle. You always have a bit of a soft spot for your hometown cup and that's Geelong. So I'd like to win that race at some point in time.

Steve 11:02 Yep. And it's more competitive than ever, really.

Mitch Freedman 11:05 Exactly. Great qualifier to the Melbourne Cup or a great lead into the Melbourne Cup. So who knows? If you manage to win a Geelong Cup, you might be competitive in the big one as well.

11:13 Aspirations for Mitch Freedman Racing

Steve 11:13 And then what's the aspiration for Mitch Friedman Racing? Is it more boxes? Is it move to Melbourne? Is it settled? What is it?

Mitch Freedman 11:20 Yeah, I mean, our aspirations for Mitch Friedman Racing are to become involved in a farm and potentially a pre-training or a rehab sort of facility. So that'll have our spellers getting done in-house, the ones that we control and, you know, building the business that way. So looking to, you know, cement some assets and that sort of stuff. So look at it as a business, not just something you run around the mouse wheel. And yeah, that's the aspirations and we're working towards that.

Steve 11:52 Awesome, Mitch. Well, thank you so much. Episode 21, Off N Racing. It is pissing down with rain and it's been a huge week. But wrap with our partnership with you, mate. And well done on what you've come away with.

Mitch Freedman 12:03 Thanks, Steve. And enjoyed the sale and we look forward to the rest of the season with you guys.