Will it be second time lucky in the BRC Sprint for Freedom Rally?
Twelve months ago, when Freedom Rally lined up for the 2024 edition of the BRC Sprint, the Tony Gollan trained son of Rubick was a six-time winner from twelve starts and was being touted as a genuine Stradbroke contender … but he had to get into the Stradbroke field first and a win in that BRC Sprint would have earned him a much desired Stradbroke Handicap ballot-free privilege.
In the end, any sense of anticipation and excitement was replaced by outright disappointment with the final chase to the line being a painful watch for Freedom Rally’s connections as he was beaten home by the narrowest of margins … just a little more than bob of the head … after being slow away and running onto heels mid-race before charging home from well back in the field.
The pieces just did not fall into place for the son of Rubick that day. That’s the fine line that opportunity walks in racing.
Freedom Rally has only added one more win to his resume since then, but now he is back for another crack at the BRC Sprint and the Stradbroke ballot-free bonus that is once again on offer.
The BRC Sprint is contested at Group 3 and, while Freedom Rally has finished unplaced in his last four outings, it should be noted that those runs were Group 1 and Group 2 level … with the most notable result there being Freedom Rally’s run in the Group 1 Futurity Stakes at Caulfield back in March.
In the Futurity Stakes, Freedom Rally finished 2,30 lengths behind Mr Brightside, the nineteen-time winner and multiple Group 1 winning success story, and marginally closer to the subsequent All Star Mile winner Tom Kitten … and he was also only 2.00 lengths behind I Wish I Win … all of that achieved at level weights with those three quality horses.
That is noteworthy form going into the BRC Sprint.
In his warmup for this latest assignment, Freedom Rally raced in the Group 2 Victory stakes over 1200m … a distance short of his best … after a seven week break away from race action.
Fitter for that run and with a step up in distance to 1350m, and jumping from barrier number 3, you would expect Freedom Rally to have every chance of setting the record straight here after that agonisingly, narrow defeat last year.
Ryan Maloney, who rode Freedom Rally in the Victory Stakes stays in the saddle.
For all of that, Gollan not left his chance of victory in this important race to Freedom Rally alone. The champion trainer has three runners engaged … all currently at double figure odds.
Transatlantic at $13 shades his stablemate Freedom Rally ($13.20) in the betting while Rockribbed, who comes into the race looking for a hat-trick of wins, is posted as a $19 chance with online betting sites.
