Trainer Michael Freedman has added to his arsenal of young horses with the assistance of a powerful ally in Coolmore after the pair teamed up for a colt by boom shuttle stallion Wootton Bassett early on day one of Karaka.
Coolmore’s Tom Magnier, Freedman and bloodstock agent Michael Wallace went public with their new partnership just six lots into the 99th New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale with the purchase of the imposing $725,000 colt by the Coolmore sire.
The expensive yearling is one of three colts to sell for more than $400,000 inside the first two hours of the 2025 Karaka auction.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club paid $625,000 for a colt by champion New Zealand sire Savabeel from the Trelawney Stud draft while a son of Proisir from Haunui Farm could also be bound for Asia after being purchased for $450,000 by Paul Chow’s Tartan Meadow Bloodstock.
Freedman, meanwhile, has made a concerted effort to boost the depth of his stable by investing heavily at the sales, buying at least 10 yearlings at the Magic Millions sale on the Gold Coast, and that momentum continued at Karaka.
Six years after returning from a brief stint in Hong Kong, Freedman is 12th on this season’s NSW trainers’ premiership, preparing 32 winners at a strike-rate of 21.8 per cent, with 18 of those victories coming at metropolitan level to place him sixth on the city standings.
Among this season’s metropolitan winners are promising juvenile Pallaton, a son of Wootton Bassett, and the talented Extreme Choice filly Apocalyptic, with the pair prominent in early Golden Slipper betting.
Emboldened by his current juvenile squad, which is certain to see Freedman surpass his 2023-24 metropolitan tally of 20 winners, the Sydney trainer’s alliance with Coolmore augers well for the Randwick trainer’s future.
“We've obviously known the Coolmore boys for a long time and, back in the day, I trained quite a few for them, so Tom and I have been chatting for a little while about trying to do something together and obviously (Lot 6) is by their stallion,” Freedman said.
“He was a colt that he also really liked, so it just worked out well.”
Karaka 2025 Highligh Lot 🎥
— New Zealand Bloodstock (@KarakaChat) January 25, 2025
A cracking start to the sale with Lot 6, a Wootton Bassett colt out of Il Affare from @CurraghmoreNZ selling for $725,000 to the bid of @MFreedmanRacing , @TomMagnier and @mickwallace.#Karaka2025 pic.twitter.com/Gm9nkYAK5v
Freedman suggested that other stable clients, including Anthony Gow-Gates, will have the opportunity to buy into the Wootton Bassett colt.
Gow-Gates bred and owns Pallaton, a debut Randwick winner in December who is the $11 second favourite for the Golden Slipper.
His winning performance prompted Freedman to compare the first southern hemisphere-bred stock of Wootton Bassett to that of the breed-shaping Danehill.
As well as Pallaton, Wootton Bassett is also the sire of the Coolmore-owned and Chris Waller-trained Wodeton, the ruling Golden Slipper favourite, Gallo Nero, West Of Swindon and Saturday’s Blue Diamond Preview-placed colt Yamashita's Gold.
“(The Wootton Bassetts are similar to the Danehills) very much in terms of their temperament,” Freedman said.
“We obviously were fortunate enough to have a lot to do with a lot of Danehills back in the day and so many of his good ones just had that really relaxed demeanour and that's what I've sort of seen of his stock that I've had so far.”
Wootton Bassett colt Pallaton winning in Sydney for trainer Michael Freedman. (Vision: YouTube)
Sold by Curraghmore Stud for Nearco Stud’s Greg Tomlinson, the colt is the first foal of the New Zealand Group 2-placed Il Affare, and he shares similar characteristics to Pallaton, according to Freedman.
“We liked him from the first time we saw him and we looked at him again earlier this morning,” he said.
“He's a lovely moving horse and the stallion couldn't be going any better obviously.”
Pallaton is expected to barrier trial soon ahead of a planned first-up run in the Group 2 Silver Slipper (1100m) at Rosehill on February 22.
“We obviously were fortunate enough to have a lot to do with a lot of Danehills back in the day and so many of his good ones just had that really relaxed demeanour and that's what I've sort of seen of his (Wootton Bassett) stock that I've had so far” - Michael Freedman after securing a $725,000 colt by the boom Coolmore stallion
Te Akau principal David Ellis, whose operation won both the Karaka Millions 2YO and 3YO races at Ellerslie on Saturday with La Dorada and Damask Rose respectively, was active early in the first session, purchasing six yearlings in his quest to be NZB’s leading buyer for a 17th time.
