Racing: Bad week ends brilliantly for Melbourne trainer

A week that started poorly for Lee Freedman ended brilliantly on Saturday.

Early last week the Melbourne trainer was advised his annual intake from Darley of around 60 young horses is about to be cut in half.

Darley's managing director Henry Plumptre told Freedman the majority of yearlings owned by the Australian racing arm of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum would be going to their highly successful trainer Peter Snowden.

To which Freedman responded that he would crank up his specking horses at the summer round of yearling sales.

That will include Karaka, with all of the stable's New Zealand clients about to be approached.

Freedman received the best possible advertising for that venture when First Command won Saturday's A$100,000 Cleary Stakes at Caulfield.

Freedman had already booked First Command on a flight to New Zealand for the $1 million Telegraph at Trentham. A First Command victory in that race would do no harm to the Melbourne trainer's plans to boost his stable with New Zealand clients.

First Command has always been one level below the best Australian sprinters, which makes him more than competitive with ours.

He may not have looked dashing in winning on Saturday, but he had to carry 59kg topweight, which appeared to anchor him when Dwayne Dunn asked him to sprint on the corner after sitting outside the pacemaker.

Despite his weight he safely held some smart opposition and ran the 1200m in a swift 1.8.38.

The New Zealand TAB has First Command at $9 for the Telegraph.

The favourite, at $3.50, is the Gai Waterhouse-trained Swift Alliance.

Swift Alliance has yet to be nominated, but Waterhouse has said the $30,000 late nomination will be paid early next week and she has booked the horse's flight to New Zealand.

Lee Freedman didn't have quite the same level of luck in the opening race at Caulfield with ChateauneufduPape, a juvenile he'd hoped would earn sufficient stakemoney at only his second visit to the races to get him into the field for Ellerslie's Karaka Million.

ChateauneufduPape could finish only fifth of the six runners.

In Brisbane, smart filly Epona Princess had a hiccup in her run towards the Karaka Million when the Eagle Farm races were called off because of the continued wet weather. She has had one start for a win for trainer Alain Bailey, who holds the filly in high regard.

The Telegraph market: $3.50 Swift Alliance (not yet nominated), $7 Coup Align, $8 Katie Lee, $9 First Command, Vonusti, $10 Monton, $12 Atapi, Mufhasa, $13 Twilight Savings, $18 Tip The Wink.

$1M TELEGRAPH

* First Command struck an important blow for trainer Lee Freedman in winning the A$100,000 Cleary Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday.

* Freedman has just had the numbers reduced on the horses he is being sent by Darley.

* The Melbourne trainer is looking to strike at the series of yearling sales.