Freedman hails fancy footwork
CHAMPION trainer Lee Freedman has declared Our Ivanhowe’s troublesome feet the best they’ve ever been and insists the seven-day back-up will be no issue in Saturday’s $1.5 million BMW.
The seven-year-old has always had bad feet but Freedman said constant work on them over the past two years was starting to pay off.
“Touch wood, his feet are excellent and they have been the best they ever have this campaign,” he said.
“He actually has conventional plates on now, which we’ve never been able to use on him before, so it’s great.
“It’s a lot of work by our farriers and many shoeings just gradually getting the horse’s feet back to the shape they should be.
“It’s also leaving him barefoot when he spells to allow the hoof to breathe and grow and he has a totally different-shape foot (now) to what he had two years ago.”
Our Ivanhowe has never backed up within seven days during his entire career but Freedman isn’t concerned.
“I don’t think the back-up will be any problem for him and he went in very fit (into the Ranvet Stakes) and albeit a Group 1 it was a pretty soft win and he didn’t have to do a lot of work in the run,” he said.
“He has shown that since the race he has been very well and he hasn’t left an oat, so I don’t think I would be too concerned about (the back-up).”
Our Ivanhowe was found to be lame in the off-foreleg when knuckling after the finishing line of last Saturday’s Ranvet Stakes but Freedman said he had been fine this week.
“He was just a bit ginger trotting up after the race and we just iced his front legs and that’s standard practice with these old horses,” he said.
“My guys said he was as good as gold Sunday morning.”
Freedman will also saddle up Exospheric in the BMW at Rosehill and the former English stayer will have his admirers after his luckless third in the Australian Cup.
SEYMOUR VR