Pocketing raced outside the leader before clearing out to win the Bob Ingham AO - courtesy Bradley Photographers.

“This kid has a very rare talent,” was co-trainer Richard Freedman’s comment after Braith Nock’s win on Pocketing in Saturday’s Bob Ingham AO Hcp at Randwick. “The horse has been pulling ferociously in his races of late and had every reason to do it again the way the race was run on Saturday. He travelled strongly outside the leader in the early stages, but Braith gradually got him to come back a little. He’s a gifted young jockey with a very bright future.”

Pocketing’s recent habit of overdoing it in his races and a very wide barrier draw were the principal reasons he got out to double figures in Saturday’s 1800m BM88. Those who couldn’t resist the $10.00 on offer must have been horrified to see him charge out of barrier 10 and continue to go forward to the girth of leader Sosino. Just when Pocketing’s supporters were expecting him to get on his way, the gelding changed his mind and came back underneath Braith Nock. The apprentice actually nursed the four year old up the rise as he headed Sosino with Collect The Cash battling in third place, and solidly supported Sun God looking all over a winner as he eased out of his perfect trailing position. Sun God appeared certain to reel Pocketing in but suddenly gave his tail a telltale swish before deciding to give the matter further thought. The result was a decisive win for Pocketing with the promise of more to come if he continues to race tractably.

Pocketing (Braith Nock) was too good for the opposition in Saturday's Bob Ingham AO Hcp - courtesy Bradley Photographers.

Richard Freeman gives much of the credit for Saturday’s win to Pocketing’s recent one week “sea change” at his 200 acre farm “Yellow Rock” near Broke in the Hunter Region. Richard and his wife Sally purchased the property a few years ago with the long term aim of pre-training and spelling horses from the Richard and Will Freedman training operation at Rosehill. “Pocketing had been going too hard in his races and needed something to get his mind off the racetrack,” said Richard. “We brought him up to the farm where we exercised him lightly each morning before letting him spend each day in the paddock. You could see his mood changing every day. His attitude since returning to the stables has been very heartening, and he raced accordingly on Saturday. He’ll be spending more time at the farm you can bet on it.”

Pocketing (centre) grabs some black type with a nose win over Firm Agreement (inside) and King Of Thunder in the Gr. 2 Tulloch Stakes - courtesy Bradley Photographers.

Before leaving the Freedman farm it’s worthy of mention that Richard has installed a training track featuring a circumference of 1800m and a generous width of 25 metres. The circuit is predominantly flat and has two straights of greater length than the home runs at Flemington and Randwick. The recent shortage of rainfall has stalled the growth of the grass covering. “Fifty or sixty millimetres would send it crazy,” says Richard. “If the current dry spell continues we mightn’t have a training track until next year, but it will be worth waiting for. With twenty stables already on the property, we’re very well set up to give horses a lovely change of environment.”

Multi talented Richard Freedman has enjoyed a diversified career as a horse trainer and polished media performer. Nowadays he has the job of rejuvenating horses on his Hunter Valley property - courtesy Bradley Photographers.

The sixty four year old former member of the legendary Freedman Bros training machine believes “Yellow Rock” has given him a perfect balance in life. “Sally and I were just visitors in the early days but made the decision to move here permanently a year ago,” he said. “We have a dozen of the racehorses here most of the time and they constitute a full time job. I go to Rosehill every Tuesday and Saturday to watch the trackwork and to assess the progress of all forty horses with Will who’s doing a super job managing the operation.

“Sally has adapted to country life better than I have. She has the gardens in great shape and has developed into a pretty astute cattle rancher. She keeps thirty cows on the property which have produced an amazing total of sixty calves in the last two breeding seasons. All of those calves have made it to market and at her current rate, my wife is heading towards the establishment of a real life Ponderosa. Full credit for the success of the Yellow Rock breeding operation goes to our resident bull “Darrell” who wouldn’t swap his job for a starring role at King Ranch in Texas.”

It’s no surprise to see thirty three year old Will Freedman handling the forty horse operation at Rosehill with consummate professionalism. Apart from his powerful genetic inheritance, Will gained enormous benefit from his brief solo training experiment at Scone a few years ago. In just two years he won more than forty races, garnering valuable experience in all aspects of commercial training. Who could forget his first metropolitan win with Birdonawinningpost in a TAB Highway at Randwick, or his Dubbo Cup win with Zaunkonig. Perhaps he’d still be training under his own banner had his father not suggested a partnership in April of 2022. “I was delighted when Will accepted my proposal and things have worked out very well,” said Richard. “His Scone stint was of enormous benefit to him. Apart from learning the many aspects of running a training business he also found out how bloody hard it is.”

Both Richard and Will were delighted to be given Pocketing to train in late 2023 by Yulong Investments, their first horse for the global breeding and racing giant. The son of Grunt was a Yulong homebred from Pickpocket, an unraced daughter of High Chaparral and one of the company’s least fashionable mares. Yulong would be more than happy if every horse on their burgeoning roster could emulate Pocketing’s racetrack record of seventeen starts for five wins, five placings, $444,500 in prize money and a Gr 2 triumph in the Tulloch Stakes last autumn.

Richard says Will's two year solo training stint was an invaluable learning curve. Here's Will with Pocketing after the gelding's win on Saturday - courtesy Bradley Photographers.

Richard and Will are closely monitoring the progress of the second Yulong horse to be placed in their care. The two year old colt was a $575,000 purchase by Yulong at this year’s Inglis Easter Sale and is a son of the much talked about USA stallion Gun Runner who stood in Kentucky this year at a $250,000 service fee. “He’s only just back in work after a good break and this time we’ll see if we can get a guide on his likely potential,” said Richard. “The Gun Runners have done big things in America, but you’d be surprised how many Australian buyers are wary that the progeny of these big name American stallions might be essentially dirt track runners. They seem to forget that Gun Runner’s Aussie progeny will know nothing but grass tracks from the beginning of their careers. We’re all looking forward to assessing our colt’s ability on the turf. For those interested, Yulong has named him Genesis Runner.”

With a new year just around the corner, the Freedman duo hopes for a continuation of the momentum that gave them not only a Randwick win on Saturday, but also a winning double on the Beaumont track at Newcastle courtesy of Crimson Wings and Forbidden Riff both ridden by in-form Lee Magorrian. The stable rounded off a productive weekend when Rolling Magic (Shaun Guymer) scored an emphatic win in Sunday’s Nowra Cup, guaranteeing the gelding a start in next year’s Big Dance. Rolling Magic’s win took Richard and Will to 23 NSW wins for the current season, following on from 47 last term, 28 in 2023/2024, while in 2022/2023 they posted 44 wins and two dead heats, very respectable figures with rarely more than forty horses in work.

“We’re more than happy with our results in just three and a half seasons in partnership,” said Richard. “Obviously our stocks would be boosted by the presence of a genuine Gr 1 horse, but that applies to all smaller stables. You can only hope one of those elite athletes walks through the door sooner rather than later. Who knows there might be one among the two year old batch we have in the stable right now. Remember the famous old quote about the troubled horseman who contemplated ending it all, until he remembered there was an untried yearling in his front paddock.”

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