Co trainers Richard and Michael Freedman are leaving their options open regarding the remainder of Love Tap’s spring campaign. The immensely likeable grey gelding has won an army of admirers with an unbeaten four start rampage - a sequence that took him from a Nowra Maiden win on June 16th to a Gr 3 Gloaming Stakes success on Saturday.
Inevitably the Hong Kong agents have been circling like white pointers for several weeks. For now, the eighteen owners who constitute the Dynamic Syndications No 94 Syndicate seem happy to hold on to Love Tap. They are obviously influenced by the lure of some pretty attractive prize money in the weeks ahead.
He’ll probably start favourite in the $1 million Spring Champion Stakes on October 10th, and a trip south for the Victoria Derby isn’t out of the question. “The thing that dominates our thoughts is the fact that this is his first real preparation,” said Richard Freedman. “To keep him going after the Champion Stakes is quite an ask, but he’s a bit different to many other horses. He’s amazingly adaptable and takes everything in his stride.”
As light on his feet as Fred Astaire! Love Tap cruises home in the Gr 3 Gloaming Stakes on Saturday - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Despite having had three well spaced barrier trials, Love Tap had no idea what he was doing when he lined up for a 1200m Maiden at Nowra just over three months ago. Keagan Latham gave him ample time to find his feet after a tardy start, and he was three wide with cover approaching the hometurn. “The leaders got right away from him when they quickened on the turn, but only because he didn’t know what was happening,” said Richard. “When Keagan balanced him up and pointed him in the right direction, he swamped them late.”
He had a brief “freshen” after the Nowra run and didn’t reappear until August 4th when Nash Rawiller gave him the easiest of easy trials at Rosehill. A suspension put Nash out of circulation when Love Tap lined up for a BM58 at Goulburn ten days later. On a Heavy 9 track Christian Reith headed for the outside fence in search of better ground down the running, and the grey zoomed away to win by 4.3 lengths.
Track conditions were much improved on September 11th when the gelding lined up for his third race start in a Cl 2 on the same track. Nash Rawiller flagged his opinion of the horse by turning up for one ride. Again Love Tap didn’t jump brilliantly, but was quickly outside the leader before careering away to win by exactly the same margin as he had at his previous Goulburn start. The margin was the result of a slick 33.73 closing 600m.
Love Tap spends more time in the air than he does on the ground. Nash Rawiller made a special trip to ride him in this one at Goulburn 11/09/2020 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
It’s pretty rare for a three time country winner to go out at the unbackable odds of $1.70 in a Group 3 Gloaming Stakes. It probably suggests that this wasn’t the best Gloaming in history, but he did do all of the donkey work and his closing 600m in 34.90 was just over half a second quicker than Ole Kirk’s Golden Rose split. His winning margin of 1.8 lengths was an emphatic one.
He hesitated slightly when the gates opened on Saturday as he had at his previous outings, but in three giant bounds he was in front. His laid back style was clearly evident turning to the back when Easy Campese made a quick bid for the lead. Many leaders would have been keen to get on with it, but Love Tap was completely unfazed and didn’t touch the bridle.
“He’s a lovely horse to be around in the stable, but gets a little impatient at the races,” said Richard. “He’d rather walk for long periods than put up with the cross ties in the horse stalls. We’re hopeful he’ll give that away soon.”
Love Tap is a tall, leggy horse with an attractive old style Arab head. He carries adequate condition, but gives the impression he’ll fill out considerably with maturity. His baldy face gets lost in his grey colouring, but his three white stockings are clearly visible.
“His action is a sight to behold,” says Richard Freedman. “Not only does he cover an enormous amount of ground, but he has an elevated stride. By that I mean he seems to be in the air and floating over the ground. That energy saving action should help him to manage a longer trip.”
Nash Rawiller is one of the gelding’s most ardent fans. “He’ll go forward if you need him to, or he’ll happily come back,” said the jockey. “He has a beautiful rhythmic action and covers a lot of ground. I couldn’t believe the sectionals he ran at Goulburn recently. I wouldn’t swap him for any other ride in the Spring Champion Stakes.”
Richard didn't look half pleased to pose with the Gloaming Stakes trophy - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Love Tap gets his grey colouring from his sire Tapit, a hugely successful stallion in America where his progeny have won twenty five Group 1 races.
Three of his sons Tonalist, Creator and Tapwrit have won the Belmont Stakes. It’s interesting to note that Tapit has sired a handful of Group 1 winners on turf.
The few Tapit yearlings to appear in Australian sale rings have been the produce of American mares covered by the son of Pulpit to southern hemisphere time. Coolmore imported Love Tap’s dam Smokey’s Love to Australia, where she produced her Tapit colt. Nothing has gone right for the Forestry mare since.
She slipped an American Pharoah foal in 2018, while her 2019 colt by the same stallion had to be put down. Coolmore recently returned Smokey’s Love to the USA following a Group 1 Del Mar win by her daughter Fighting Mad. Saturday’s Group 3 win by Love Tap has further enhanced her worth.
Richard and brother Michael have made a roaring success of the training partnership they formulated in June of last year. In their first full season together the brothers finished in tenth spot on the NSW training ladder with 66.5 winners. One of those wins was with Prime Star in the $2 million Inglis Millenium earlier this year. They’re off to a good start in the new season with fifteen NSW winners, including a pleasing stakes win with Paths To Glory in the recent listed Carlton Draught Wyong Cup.
Richard is based at Rosehill with thirty six horses in his care, while Michael oversees another twenty six from the partnership’s Randwick stables. “We talk on a daily basis and discuss the progress of every horse in our joint care,” said Richard. “The one firm understanding is that the final call rests with the person who is actually seeing the horse every day. The system works well.”
Michael Freedman was besieged by the media after Prime Star's win in the $2,000,000 Inglis Millenium in February - the partnership's biggest win so far - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Richard surprised many friends and associates almost four years ago when he suddenly announced his return to horse training following a stint as a pre trainer for brother Michael from a Hawkesbury base. This followed a fifteen year absence from racing stables during which time he built up a solid career in the media.
Richard has worked for the Seven and Ten Networks, Sky Racing Radio, Radio MMM, the Nine Network’s Wide World of Sports Sunday programme, and any number of Sky Racing shows. He continues to make a weekly appearance with Glenn Munsie and Ray Thomas on Sky Thoroughbred Central’s “News Central” programme.
Perhaps the horse who should get the credit for launching Richard’s new training career is the enigmatic Auvray. Despite having won four races in France the gelding had a reputation as a non trier when he arrived in Australia. He failed to win in four starts for John Thompson and another four for Darren Weir, before finally landing in Richard’s Rosehill barn.
The astute Freedman tried all sorts of approaches to coax Auvray back into a good headspace. His patience was rewarded when the gelding showed enough of his suppressed ability to win a Randwick BM89, a Colin Stephen Quality (Gr 3), and a Sky High Stakes (Gr 3). He was second in a Newcastle Cup, second in a St Leger Stakes and a cracking fourth in Who Shot Thebarman’s Sydney Cup. On that occasion he was beaten just over a length after losing a plate in the run.
Richard won a string of races with horses that would have tested the patience of most trainers. Some were getting old, some had soundness issues and some had more tricks than a magician. Freedman’s patience and understanding of the thoroughbred saw him win numerous races with Shalmaneser, Vontaine, Roman Son, The Bandit and Latin Boy.
These were the horses who got him up and going in the ferociously competitive Sydney training ranks. These were the horses who helped him establish a reputation in his own right, away from the heady years of the brotherhood. Back then he was part of the team dubbed “Freedman Brothers Incorporated” - the golden years when Richard, Lee, Michael and Anthony pooled their skills to produce an astonishing total of 140 Group 1 wins.
The horse to get Richard on his way in his new training career was Auvray. One of his wins was the Gr 3 Sky High Stakes at Rosehill 17/03/2018 with Glyn Schofield in the saddle - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Richard and Michael have got themselves a “push button” horse to represent the stable in the $1 million Spring Champion Stakes on October 10th. Current public health orders will restrict the crowd at Royal Randwick, but racehorse owners have the green light to attend.
If the bold striding Love Tap happens to snare the famous Gr 1 in the Dynamic Syndications colours, those eighteen owners will make enough noise for 30,000 people.
A Group 1 of this stature wouldn’t do the Freedman duo any harm either!
(Banner image - It was a Heavy 9 at Goulburn on 14/08/2020. Having only his second start, Love Tap streeted the opposition with Christian Reith on board. - courtesy Bradley Photographers.)