Oliver to team up with Freedman Brothers in Caulfield Cup with Exospheric

Four times Caulfield Cup winner Damien Oliver will team up again with the Freedman Brothers with import Exospheric in this year’s Group 1 $3m BMW Caulfield Cup (2400m) at Caulfield on October 15.

Damien Oliver, above, will ride English import Exospheric in the Caulfield Cup at Caulfield. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.

Damien Oliver, above, will ride English import Exospheric in the Caulfield Cup at Caulfield. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.

Oliver and the Freedman’s Brother were almost a fixture in the Caulfield Cup winner’s stall during the early and mid 1990s with wins by Mannerism in 1992, Paris Lane in 1994 and on Doriemus in 1995 and Oliver also saluted for trainer Colin Alderson on Sky Heights on 1999.

In those days Lee Freedman was the front man of what was known as the FBI, Freedman Brothers Incorporated, with the team being made up of his brothers Anthony, Michael and Richard, and they dominated the Australian Racing scene with Oliver putting the icing on the cake.

Today Lee and Anthony Freedman train in partnership at Flemington and have taken over the training of English import Exospheric who raced under the name of Exosphere in England under the guidance of top Newmarket trainer Sir Michael Stoute.

Exospheric is on the fourth line of betting at $11 at Ladbrokes.com.au for the Caulfield Cup and comes to Australia after running fifth to Postponed in the Group 1 £960,000 Juddmonte International Stakes (1 mile, 2 furlongs, 88 yards) at York on August 17.

Freedman said that the stable doesn’t get the services of Oliver very often these days but very happy to have secured him for the Caulfield Cup.

“He’s a great rider but more importantly he’s got a great record in that race, that’s important,” Lee Freedman told G1X.com.au.

“He was interested, and there were a couple of others in the mix, and then there’s always toing and froing this time of the year but we confirmed it last night.”

“He’s freelancing and I sort of do my own thing too, but he does a bit – he’s riding one for me Friday night at Cranbourne and there are no issues at all there.”

“We’re very pleased to have a rider of his quality on board with our horse.”

Exospheric’s most recent win at Group 2 level was when he took out the £100,000 Dunaden at Overbury Club Stakes (1 1/2 miles) at Newmarket in England on April 30 and the five year old arrived at the Werribee International Horses Centre for quarantine last Saturday.

“He got here Saturday, settled in pretty good. I’m quite happy with him,” Freedman said.

“He’ll do a bit of fastwork on Friday and then Ollie will have a sit on him probably Monday in a proper gallop.

“This horse raced in August so it’s not that long ago – they’re used to have their runs spaced – so there are no issues there.

“His form tells the story – his form is excellent. Similar form to Scottish, similar form to Sir Issac Newton, these are high quality horses, so he should do well.”

The Ciaron Maher trained Jameka sits at the top of the Caulfield Cup market order at $3.60 with Ladbrokes.com.au just ahead of Godolphin’s Hartnell at $4.40, Scottish at $9 while the Darren Weir trained Real Love shares the next line of betting at $11 with Exospheric.

Early market order for the Caulfield Cup at Ladbrokes.com.au: $3.60 Jameka, $4.40 Hartnell, $9 Scottish, $11 Exopsheric (GB), Real Love, $13 Tally, $15 Articus, Sir Isaac Newton, $21 Howard Be Thy Name, It’s Somewhat, Sir John Hawkwood, $26 Gallante, Our Ivanhowe, Preferment, $31 Sacred Master, Set Square, Tarzino, The United States, $41 and over the rest.

About The Author

Mark Mazzaglia

Mark is a passionate journalist with a life-time involvement in the racing industry. He spent many years as an analyst and form expert at the Courier Mail and also has hands-on experience working with some of Queensland’s top trainers.