European stayer Sarrasin will arrive in Australia at the end of the month and will join the stable of Team Freedman.
Lee Freedman is optimistic about the future of imported European stayer Sarrasin. Photo by: Taron Clarke
Sarrasin made his racing debut with a third place finish at Saint Cloud on November 8 and he scored his maiden race win at the same venue on April 5 last year before he finished fourth behind Karaktar in the Group 3 Prix Noailles (2100m) at Longchamp on April 20.
The Monsun entire returned to winning form with an impressive victory in the Prix De L’Avre (2400m) at Longchamp on May 24 before he sparked the interest of Lee Freedman with his close third behind Erupt in the Group 3 Prix Du Lys Longines (2400m) at Chantilly on June 14.
Freedman told Racing Ahead that he has a massive opinion of Erupt, who took out the Group 1 Grand Prix De Paris (2400m) last year, and he said that he was keen to acquire any progressive stayer with form around the Dubai entire.
“I rate Erupt really highly and his performances for a lightly-raced horse over their summer was terrific,” Freedman said.
“I think he ran fourth or fifth in the Arc behind Golden Horn and then he ran a luckless fifth in the Japan Cup.
“He is a horse with immense promise and we actually had a moment of madness where we thought we might try and get him, but he is owned by the Niarchos family and they weren’t interested in selling him.
“Then we started to pour through his form and then we found this horse Sarrasin by Monsun.
“He only met Erupt once and he was beaten a nose.
“He is only a lightly-raced horse, but at set weights with a performance like that he really heightened our interest.
“My group of owners were very keen to buy him, so it has eventuated.
“He is in quarantine in Europe now and he will be out here sometime late in January.
“He is a worthwhile investment and if he brings that form here that he has behind Erupt then he is going to be terribly competitive in whatever he runs in.”
Freedman is yet to decide on which races he will target with Sarrasin and he said that he will wait until he is able to inspect the four-year-old before he makes a decision, but he did not rule out a potential trip to Brisbane for the 2016 Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival.
“He will get here late January, which rules out a lot of Autumn Carnival races,” Freedman said.
“The way I have left it with everybody is that I actually have to get the horse here and see what sort of condition he is in.
“Perhaps we will set him a little goal and a trip to Brisbane in the winter because I like to keep the horses in the stable and keep them ticking over.
“Once I get him here I will know what I will do with him.”
Sarrasin has recorded two wins from his five race starts in Europe and will get in fairly well at the handicap when he makes his Australian racing debut.
