Lee Freedman has turned back the clock to land a winner at Sandown.
Now based on the Gold Coast, Freedman sent Binding to Melbourne a couple of months ago where she is stabled at Pinecliff on the Mornington Peninsula in the care of his brother Anthony and nephew Sam.
Freedman is a household name having burst on the scene in the 1980’s to quickly establish himself one of the leading trainers, landing all big four Australian races – the Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and Golden Slipper – with the help of his brothers Anthony, Richard and Michael.
All eventually went their separate ways, with Richard and Michael, after a stint in Asia, now training in Sydney.
After training in partnership with Anthony where they had considerable success last decade, Lee headed to Singapore before returning home to set up base on the Gold Coast.
Binding was Freedman’s first runner in Victoria since the end of the 2010-11 racing season and his first winner since Cornell scored on the synthetic track at Geelong on July 1, 2011.
Ridden by Jamie Kah, Binding ($5.50) won the Tobin Brothers Celebrating Lives Handicap (1600m) on Wednesday, giving the jockey and trainer combination their first winners together.
“I reckon that’s my first ride for him,” Kah said.
“That’s a very special winner and I didn’t know anything about the horse, but I thought it would be pretty hard to beat.
“But I didn’t expect the horse to be that much of a ratbag. She had quite a temper out there in the mounting yard and behind the gates, but once out in the race she settled quite well.
“We went a bit steady. I was a bit concerned with the horse’s temperament that she might want to be a bit keen, but she came back to me, and we may have gone a bit too slow, and that’s why they swooped early.
“I was always confident where we were though and credit to the hose, when she was headed, that’s when she fought back.”
