Freedman to clean out HK stables for Sydney return
MICHAEL Freedman will form a partnership with Edward O’Rourke and resume his training career at Randwick.
Freedman has been training in Hong Kong for more than a year but has told the Hong Kong Jockey Club of his intention to relinquish his licence and return to Sydney.
“My last active meeting in Hong Kong will be on Novem- 10 and I hope to be back in Sydney a few days after that,’’ Freedman said.
“Edward and I have been discussing the possibility of forming a partnership for a couple of weeks now and lodged an application to Racing NSW once my wife, Anna, and I decided to return home.
“When I was training in Sydney, Edward was my stable foreman and we had a great working relationship.
“I’m hoping we can pick up where I left off before going to Hong Kong.’’
Freedman informed the Hong Kong Jockey Club he wanted to return home for family reasons.
“With our children in boarding school back in Sydney, it has been difficult at times for Anna and I in Hong Kong,’’ he said.
“But I am really looking forward to settling back in Sydber ney, where racing is in a fantastic period of growth and progression.’’
Freedman told his Hong Kong owners yesterday of his plans to return to Sydney.
“I was quite amazed and encouraged when two or three of my owners said they want to have horses with me in Sydney,’’ Freedman said.
“They haven’t raced horses in Australia before but they are aware of how strong Sydney racing is, so I’m hoping to bring back a few new investors into racing.’’
Racing NSW’s licensing committee is likely to approve Freedman’s application to form a training partnership with O’Rourke this week.
Freedman had trained successfully in Singapore for nearly a decade before setting up stables in 2015 in Sydney, where he was considered a rising star in the training ranks.