Michael Freedman’s adeptness with young horses was once again evident at Randwick as Shraddha dominated the Gimcrack Stakes, leading the trainer to draw parallels with Manaal.
Manaal achieved victory in the same race three years prior before going on to secure the Group 1 ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) in the autumn, along with an additional three black-type races following her juvenile season.
Freedman has also claimed two of the last six Golden Slippers with Marhoona (2025) and Stay Inside (2021), whom he prepared alongside his brother Richard. He humorously dismissed any notion of a secret method for handling two-year-olds.
“I love working with them. I don’t know that there is any secret sauce,” Freedman stated.
“You just work with them and the ones that look like they’ll go early will tell you, and the ones that don’t will tell you the same way.”
“Funnily enough, I said to my foreman this morning, she reminds me a lot of Manaal. She has a really good turn of foot, which Manaal did too, and I think she has a bright future.”
Purchased as a $250,000 Magic Millions yearling, Shraddha, by Ole Dancer, had previously won her 850m heat at the official two-year-old trials last month with a front-running performance.
However, Freedman had directed jockey Tommy Berry to seek cover during Saturday’s Gimcrack Stakes (1000m). This strategy nearly backfired as the filly was forced to navigate a tight passage to launch her winning run.
“There wasn’t much of a gap there at the top of the straight, but she put herself into it and won with authority,” Berry commented.
“She hit the front at the 300 metres and had her ears pricked the whole way down the straight.”
“When the opposition gets better, she will get better.”
Freedman also saw his colt Capitano finish as runner-up to Flying Houdini in the Breeders’ Plate (1000m) for colts. He indicated that he would assess how both juveniles recovered from their respective races before finalising any plans.
His preliminary intention is to give Capitano a spell and target the Magic Millions Classic (1200m) at the Gold Coast in January, while Shraddha would be spelled in preparation for an autumn carnival campaign.
Punters looking to get involved can find competitive Australian betting sites offering markets on upcoming juvenile races.
