Lee Freedman
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David Lee Freedman (born 12 August 1956) is an Australian thoroughbred racehorse trainer. and Hall of Fame inductee. In partnership with brothers Anthony, Michael, and Richard, he has been a prolific winner of Australia's major races in past 20 years, with four
Golden Slipper The Golden Slipper Stakes is an Australian Turf Club Group races, Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-old horses run over 1,200 metres on grass, turf at set weights conditions, held at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney, Australia. It ...
s, four
Caulfield Cup The Caulfield Cup is a Melbourne Racing Club Group races, Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held under Handicap (horse racing), handicap conditions. This is for all horses aged three years old and older. It takes place over a distance of 2400 met ...
s, two
Cox Plate The W. S. Cox Plate is a Group races, Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three years old and over under Weight for age conditions, over a distance of 2040 metres (approximately 1m 2f), that is held by the Moonee Valley Racin ...
s, and five
Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is an annual Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia, at the Flemington Racecourse. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and older, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club that forms part of the ...
s, including two of the three won by
Makybe Diva Makybe Diva (foaled 21 March 1999) is a champion Australian Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who is the only horse to win three Melbourne Cups and the only mare to win it more than once. She achieved the feat in 2003, 2004, and 2005. She als ...
. On 19 June 2007 he won the prestigious
King's Stand Stakes The King Charles III Stakes (formerly the King's Stand Stakes) is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 5 fu ...
at the United Kingdom's
Royal Ascot Ascot Racecourse is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, about 25 miles west of London. Ascot is used for thoroughbred horse racing, and it hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 races and three Gra ...
racecourse with his champion mare,
Miss Andretti Miss Andretti was the 2007 Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year and is the only Thoroughbred in racing history to simultaneously hold a total of five track records in Australia and England. In 2023, Miss Andretti was inducted into the Aust ...
.


Early life

Freedman was born 12 August 1956, in Sydney to Anthony William and Estelle Dawn Freedman. His great-grandfather, David Freedman, was a Russian
Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
who fled from Elizavetgrad (now
Kirovohrad Kropyvnytskyi (, ) is a city in central Ukraine, situated on the Inhul River. It serves as the administrative center of Kirovohrad Oblast. Population: Over its history, Kropyvnytskyi has changed its name several times. The settlement was k ...
in
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
) to America, via Germany and London. His son Allan, Lee Freedman's grandfather, was an electrical engineer who came to Australia in 1927, meeting his future wife Maudie McLachlan on board the ship. Maudie's father was William H. McLachlan, a jockey who rode
Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is an annual Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia, at the Flemington Racecourse. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and older, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club that forms part of the ...
winners in 1909, 1910 and 1917. Lee Freedman gained an interest in racing at a young age when his father Tony took up horse
breeding Breeding is sexual reproduction that produces offspring, usually animals or plants. It can only occur between a male and a female animal or plant. Breeding may refer to: * Animal husbandry, through selected specimens such as dogs, horses, and rab ...
and training after retiring as a
property developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw Real Estate, land and the sale of developed land or parce ...
. Educated at
The Scots College The Scots College is an independent primary and secondary Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding school for boys, predominantly located in , an Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is affiliat ...
in Sydney, Freedman studied at
Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...
for a year, but was quickly bored and dropped out to become involved in the breeding industry himself, running the stud farm owned by the family, near Yass in Southern New South Wales.


Beginnings as a trainer

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 Randwick is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government ar ...
. Freedman purchased the stable and home vacated by outstanding trainer
Bart Cummings James Bartholomew Cummings (14 November 1927 – 30 August 2015), also known by his initials J. B. Cummings, was one of the most successful Australian racehorse trainers. He was known as the Cups King, referring to the Melbourne Cup, as he wo ...
who had moved to Sydney. Freedman soon found success with classy filly Sauna, who was
Group One Group One, Group 1, Grade I or G1 is the term used for the highest level of Thoroughbred and Standardbred stakes races in many countries. In Europe, the level of races for Thoroughbred racing is determined using the Pattern races, Pattern race sys ...
placed and smart gelding Affected. His first Group One winner was another filly, Miss Clipper, who won the SAJC
Australasian Oaks The Australasian Oaks, is a South Australian Jockey Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old fillies at Set Weights run over a distance of 2000 metres at Morphettville Racecourse, Adelaide, Australia in the SAJC Autumn Carnival. ...
.


Early success

Freedman's step towards training stardom came in the 1989 Melbourne Cup, when he trained the first two runners home, winning the race with stayer
Tawrrific Tawrrific (1984–1999) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who is best remembered for winning the 1989 Melbourne Cup. Trained by Lee Freedman and ridden by Shane Dye, he won in the then record time of three minutes and 17.1 seconds. Early career A ...
, ridden by
Shane Dye Raymond Shane Dye (born 26 September 1966, in the township of Matamata New Zealand), is a former jockey. He was an apprentice jockey to Dave O’Sullivan at Matamata, before moving to Sydney, Australia where he was initially working with Vic Th ...
, who was followed home by Super Impose. 'Super', as he was affectionately known, won eight Group One races, including the
Epsom Handicap The Epsom Handicap is an Australian Turf Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for horses three years old and older, under handicap conditions over a distance of 1,600 metres at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia in early October. Prize money i ...
and
Doncaster Handicap The Doncaster Mile, registered as the Doncaster Handicap is an Australian Turf Club Group One Thoroughbred handicap race for horses three years old and older, held over 1,600 metres at Royal Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia. Although the ra ...
twice. His most famous victory was in the 1992
Cox Plate The W. S. Cox Plate is a Group races, Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three years old and over under Weight for age conditions, over a distance of 2040 metres (approximately 1m 2f), that is held by the Moonee Valley Racin ...
as an eight-year-old. Super Impose's form had been disappointing that spring, and was in the twilight of his career. The hot favourite for the race was another Freedman horse, the classy Naturalism. At around the 600m mark, Naturalism was involved in a fall. Super Impose charged home from last to win by a head, defeating 1991 Melbourne Cup heroine
Let's Elope Let's Elope (20 November 1987 – 11 September 2016) was a Champion Thoroughbred racehorse in Australia. Background Bred by Highview Stud in Hamilton, New Zealand, Let's Elope was a giant chestnut mare who in 1991 became the first mare in ...
. 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 Subzero (1992) and
Doriemus Doriemus (17 November 1990 – 11 January 2015) was a Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who began his career in New Zealand and rose to prominence in Australia by winning the Caulfield Cup, Caulfield and Melbourne Cups in 1995. He was the eig ...
, who won the
Caulfield Cup The Caulfield Cup is a Melbourne Racing Club Group races, Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held under Handicap (horse racing), handicap conditions. This is for all horses aged three years old and older. It takes place over a distance of 2400 met ...
Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is an annual Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia, at the Flemington Racecourse. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and older, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club that forms part of the ...
double in 1995. Freedman also won an unprecedented four consecutive
Golden Slipper The Golden Slipper Stakes is an Australian Turf Club Group races, Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-old horses run over 1,200 metres on grass, turf at set weights conditions, held at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney, Australia. It ...
s, Australia's premier Two Year Old race between 1993 and 1996, with Bint Marscay, Danzero, Flying Spur, and Merlene. During this time, the combination between Freedman and stable jockey,
Damien Oliver Damien Oliver (born 22 June 1972) is an Australian Retirement, retired thoroughbred racing jockey. Oliver comes from a racing family; his father Ray Oliver had a successful career until his death in a race fall during the 1975 Kalgoorlie Cup in ...
was the best known and most successful in the country.


Controversy

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 blinkers, it was necessary for it to run in a barrier trial, to demonstrate that the horse could properly run in them. Forced to run the trial the day before a race, Freedman substituted in another runner, Spanish Reign, for the trial. As such, Central Express ran in blinkers in the race, and duly won. Although Freedman said the substitution was for a good reason, not wanting to 'flatten' his horse before the race, he was suspended for four months. In this period, his brother Richard took over as trainer. 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 Caulfield Racecourse is one of Melbourne, Australia's best-known horse-racing tracks. Commonly known as "The Heath" by local racegoers, It is home to the Melbourne Racing Club. Horse-racing started there in 1859 on a bush track where the Melbo ...
, 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
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
's
Mornington Peninsula The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located in the south of Greater Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to ...
. This was named Markdel, after Freedman's
intellectually disabled Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability (in the United Kingdom), and formerly mental retardation (in the United States), Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010).Archive is a generalized neurodevelopmental ...
older brother Mark, and mother Del. It is a state of the art private training facility, which is believed to be largely responsible for his recent resurgence. This resurgence has been best symbolised by outstanding fillies Alinghi and Special Harmony, classy stayer Mummify, and champion mare
Makybe Diva Makybe Diva (foaled 21 March 1999) is a champion Australian Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who is the only horse to win three Melbourne Cups and the only mare to win it more than once. She achieved the feat in 2003, 2004, and 2005. She als ...
. In 2003 Lee Freedman joined the ranks of Australia's all-time greats when he was inducted into the
Australian Racing Hall of Fame The Australian Racing Hall of Fame is part of the Australian Racing Museum which documents and honours the horse racing, horseracing legends of Australia. The museum officially opened in 1981 and created the Hall of Fame in 2000. The numbers i ...
. 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
Caulfield Cup The Caulfield Cup is a Melbourne Racing Club Group races, Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held under Handicap (horse racing), handicap conditions. This is for all horses aged three years old and older. It takes place over a distance of 2400 met ...
in 2003, leading all the way, was by far his greatest. Mummify's other significant wins were in the 2004 Yalumba Stakes, and 2005
Singapore Airlines International Cup The Singapore Airlines International Cup was a Group 1 flat horse race in Singapore open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It was run at Kranji over a distance of 2,000 metres (about 1¼ miles), in May each year. It was discontinued from ...
. Mummify was killed in the 2005 Caulfield Cup, when he broke a bone in his leg, and was
euthanised Animal euthanasia (euthanasia from ; "good death") is the act of killing an animal humanely, most commonly with injectable drugs. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditions or diseases, lack of resources to con ...
. Freedman took over the training of Makybe Diva in 2004, after David Hall left to take up a position in Hong Kong. Freedman took an already Melbourne Cup winner and emerging superstar, winning a
BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...
, an
Australian Cup The Australian Cup is a Victoria Racing Club Group races, Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for horses three years old and older, held under Weight for Age conditions, over a distance of 2000 metres, at Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australi ...
and a
Cox Plate The W. S. Cox Plate is a Group races, Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three years old and over under Weight for age conditions, over a distance of 2040 metres (approximately 1m 2f), that is held by the Moonee Valley Racin ...
with her. Freedman's greatest training achievement is winning the 2004 and 2005 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 James Bartholomew Cummings (14 November 1927 – 30 August 2015), also known by his initials J. B. Cummings, was one of the most successful Australian racehorse trainers. He was known as the Cups King, referring to the Melbourne Cup, as he wo ...
,
Gai Waterhouse Gabriel Marie "Gai" Waterhouse (née Smith; born 2 September 1954) is an Australian horse trainer and businesswoman. The daughter of Tommy J. Smith, a leading trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses, Waterhouse was born and raised in Sydney. After ...
, David A. Hayes and John Hawkes, among Australia's best. In the 2006–7 season the Freedman-trained sprinter
Miss Andretti Miss Andretti was the 2007 Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year and is the only Thoroughbred in racing history to simultaneously hold a total of five track records in Australia and England. In 2023, Miss Andretti was inducted into the Aust ...
won four G1 races (the
Manikato Manikato (1975–1984) was a champion Australian Thoroughbred racehorse of the late 1970s and early 1980s. He established new track records in three races and was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame. Manikato was the second Australi ...
,
Lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...
and
Australia Stakes The Australia Stakes, registered as the Stanley Wootton Stakes, is a Moonee Valley Racing Club Group 2 Thoroughbred horse race raced under weight for age conditions, for three year olds and older, over a distance of 1200 metres at Moonee Valley Rac ...
and the
Newmarket Handicap The Newmarket Handicap is a Victoria Racing Club Group One, Group 1 Thoroughbred open handicap horse race over a distance of 1200 metres, at Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia on Super Saturday in March during the VRC Autumn Racing Carn ...
) and placed in two others. In June 2007 Miss Andretti won the G2
King's Stand Stakes The King Charles III Stakes (formerly the King's Stand Stakes) is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 5 fu ...
at
Royal Ascot Ascot Racecourse is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, about 25 miles west of London. Ascot is used for thoroughbred horse racing, and it hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 races and three Gra ...
, in course record time. Following a decline in success for Freedman Brothers, Lee Freedman retired from training in August, 2011. He later admitted the strain of failure had impacted heavily on his personal life. 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 Graeme Arthur Rogerson is a New Zealand Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. He is notable for having trained more race-day winners than any other trainer in New Zealand and for having won many Group One races in New Zealand and Australia. Biogra ...
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, with stables at Flemington and Pinecliff, on the Mornington Peninsula. The pair's most successful horses in this period were sprinters
Shoals In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material, and rises from the bed of a body of water close to the surface or ...
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. Lee trained the winner of the 2018 Group 1 Singapore Guineas, Mr. Clint. Partly due to
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
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. Freedman has two daughters, Emma and Georgia, with his ex-wife Janelle. Emma, is a radio and television presenter, best known as host of Wide World of Sports, and a former weather presenter for the
Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...
in Australia. Currently, she is a presenter on Foxtel's Fox League channel.


References

*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


External links


Freedman Brothers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freedman, Lee 1956 births Living people Horse trainers from Melbourne Australian Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees People educated at Scots College (Sydney) Australian people of Russian-Jewish descent