Michael Freedman is aiming to win his first race at the Gold Coast’s Magic Millions carnival on Saturday with odds-on favourite Ninja in the $3 million 3yo Guineas, but will have to overcome a horror draw to do so.
Ninja stamped himself as the horse to beat in the Guineas with a dominant 4.8 length victory in the Group 3 Vo Rogue Plate (1300m) on January 3rd but his opposition may have a glimpse of hope after the gelding came up with barrier 17 at Tuesday’s draw.
While Freedman said the draw wasn’t ideal, he’s hoping a combination of factors will see Ninja prevail.
“It is what it is, right?” Freedman said.
“It’s not ideal, but you can’t do much about it. We’ve just got to have a good look at the race and see how we ride him.
“Tommy (Berry) will do a lot of homework on the race, so hopefully we get it right.”
The 1400m start at Gold Coast has a straight run of approximately 400m before the first turn and barriers notwithstanding, Freedman believes the horse is flying.
“He’s terrific. I couldn’t be happier with him- he’s thrived since his last win,” Freedman said.
“There’s a nice run into that first part so we’ll just get Tommy to do a lot of homework on the race and try and hatch a plan to overcome the gate.”
“He’s good to go.”
Freedman will also be represented by Encoder in the Magic Millions Subzero (2200m), a race the horse won last year when trained by brother Lee.
“He’s pulled up from his run really well,” Freedman said of his last start second to Miss Joelene in The Wave on Saturday.
“Damian Lane on, he’s a great jockey, he obviously races well at this track so he’ll give it a good shake.”
