Rogerson, Freedman tipped for Randwick union

TRANS-TASMAN training legends Graeme Rogerson and Lee Freedman are poised to unite in a new partnership in Sydney.

It was also revealed yesterday that New Zealand jockey Lisa Cropp has quit Melbourne to take up a riding contract in Turkey.

News of the Rogerson and Freedman partnership dominated Australian racing headlines yesterday, with Rogerson confirming the alliance was in the pipeline.

“We’re going through the process right now. We’re in the process of making the application,” he said. “We’ve been negotiating for a while. It’s not all approved yet. Lee and I have been friends for a long, long time.”

Freedman was in Auckland earlier this month to support Rogerson when he was inducted into the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame.

Rogerson is a 12-time New Zealand premiership winner and has won Australian racing’s big three of the Golden Slipper, Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup.

He has operated stables in Hamilton, Palmerston North, Sydney, Melbourne and Dubai in the past and has raced horses successfully all around the world.

Freedman, an Australian Hall Of Fame trainer, has won five Melbourne Cups, seven Melbourne training premierships and more than 120 Group I races, but gave up training at the start of this season, handing the reins to his brother Anthony.

“We were only saying yesterday that between us we’ve trained about 9000 winners and 160-odd Group I winners,” said Rogerson, who flew back into New Zealand from Australia yesterday.

“We’ll be quite a force. It will only be a boutique stable of about 35 horses. That’s what we are envisaging. I’d say it would be a month off, but it might be next week, or the week after.”

Freedman told Australian media that discussions had taken place about the planned partnership, to be based at Rogerson’s stables at Randwick racecourse. “There have been discussions but it hasn’t progressed any further at this stage. It is an interesting proposition,” Freedman said.

Rogerson will be at Trentham tomorrow, to watch Joy’s Choice and Savasong contest the New Zealand Oaks.

Meanwhile, Cropp yesterday confirmed she was considering an offer to ride in Turkey.

She said the plan was for her to begin riding in Turkey in three weeks, after she was approached by a trainer there, but she was unsure how long she would be based there.

“There hasn’t been a length of time discussed,” said Cropp, who rode at Ellerslie over the Auckland Cup carnival last week. “It was good to be back riding in New Zealand. The time in Turkey comes up in about three weeks, so I haven’t got much time to stay here.”

Australian media reports said Cropp had sold her furniture and car before travelling back to Cambridge to prepare for her Turkish stint. Fairfax NZ