Freedman Extends His Extreme Shopping Spree

Michael Freedman continued his Extreme Choice (AUS) spending spree on the final day of the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Yearling Sale June 2, when the trainer partnered with Darby Racing and Andrew Williams Bloodstock to purchase the Newgate sensation's bay colt for AU$400,000 (US$287,430, AU$1=US$0.72). Fresh from his group 2 success with Berzelius over the weekend, Freedman was determined to add another speedy son of Extreme Choice to his stable and, after a protracted battle in the auditorium for Lot 1077, the renowned horseman and his purchasing partners eventually got what they came for. His AU$400,000 acquisition—which topped the sale on Day 2—took Freedman's outlay on the progeny of Extreme Choice close to the AU$1 million mark, having joined forces with Williams to purchase one of his fillies for AU$580,000 in the opening session on the Gold Coast. Like most trainers across the country, Freedman is a fully paid-up member of the Extreme Choice fan club and his confidence in the product would only have increased after scouring the colt's pedigree page. His dam Coco as in Chanel was a stakes winner in her native America, and she has since made a highly promising start to her stud career, with her three foals to race having all won—including the colt's full brother Pimlico, who was a recent city winner for Tom Charlton. Freedman's confidence in the colt's capabilities is readily shared by Darby Racing's sales manager and bloodstock consultant Mark Holland, who believes that one of Australia's leading syndicators may just have unearthed a "unicorn." "Like everyone else, we absolutely love the Extreme Choices; the only problem is that we usually can't get anywhere near them," Holland told ANZ News. "But I think we've found a unicorn here. This year we decided to team up with some of our best trainers to try to buy Extreme Choice yearlings, because there's no way we could afford them ourselves. So we've been drawing up a short list and then approaching the trainer we think might be most interested in teaming up with us. "The stallion is a freak, Michael Freedman is a freak of a trainer, (bloodstock agent) Andy Williams is one of the best in the business, Newgate is one of the most respected farms in the country and the dam is a stakes winner, so we've basically ticked every box. To be honest, we would have gone further with the bidding if we'd needed to; you can't usually get Extreme Choice colts for AU$400,000 so we couldn't be more excited." Earlier in the day, bloodstock agent Kevin Walls swooped on another classy colt from the Glenbeigh Farm draft when he went to AU$275,000 for Lot 1063. As with the opening day's sale-topping colt by Lope de Vega (IRE), the son of Zoustar (AUS) will race in Ron and Judi Wanless' distinctive navy tartan silks after their trusted bloodstock agent saw off his ringside rivals. As the sale came to a close with a quieter day of trading, the only other yearlings to fetch at least AU$200,000 were lots 1040 and 1150, both fillies sired by—you've guessed it—Extreme Choice. Linsheng Zhang placed a successful bid of AU$200,000 online from China to secure Lot 1040, a bay filly out of Artemis Rose whose half sister Regrowth (Unbridled's Song) won a pair of listed contests during her juvenile campaign for Tony McEvoy. And Lot 1150, the fourth living foal produced by stakes-winning American mare Iron Mizz (Mizzen Mast), was picked up for AU$250,000 by the intriguingly named Own A Hair syndicate. "Barry (Bowditch) and all the team at Magic Millions have done a fantastic job to bring a strong buying bench to this sale," said Jim Carey, Newgate Stud farm manager. "We bought some lovely Extreme Choice yearlings up here, and have been well rewarded with some very good results. All the horses we've sold have gone to really good homes, so I'm sure they'll get every chance to prove themselves on the racetrack." The two-day National Yearling Sale (Book 1) grossed more than AU$11.9 million (US$8,551,043) for 212 lots sold at an average price of AU$56,231 (US$40,406). The median was AU$25,000 (US$17,964). The clearance rate sat at 75% as of Tuesday evening. "The results show that when you target this sale specifically with the right sort of horse, you will be well paid and well supported," Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch said. "The results over the past couple of days has really seen the whole National Sale, through weanlings, race fillies, broodmares and yearlings, end on a positive note."