Freedman claims 2YO victory with Teaspoon

The horse which helped lure Michael Freedman from Singapore to Sydney has won on debut, giving the trainer his first two-year-old winner of the season.

Teaspoon, who drifted from $4.20 to $7 before race, shot to the lead and gave a strong kick in the straight to win the TAB Plate (1100m) at Canterbury on Saturday.

Milanese Girl was a neck away second with the Mark Newnham-trained colt Ipso Facto a further 1-1/4 lengths behind her in third.

Freedman decided to return to Australia last year after eight years in Singapore where he trained 12 Group One winners.

He said when he was weighing up whether he would establish his base in Sydney or Melbourne he called Teaspoon’s owner and outgoing Racing NSW chairman John Messara.

“He said ‘well if you come to Sydney I’ll give you a horse’,” Freedman said.

“So it’s nice to repay his loyalty.”

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The Randwick trainer said he planned to give Teaspoon a break before bringing her back for autumn.

“She’s been up a little while and there’s not much of her,” Freedman said.

The overwhelming majority of Freedman’s fledgling team are two-year-olds.

“We’ve got six or eight getting closer to getting to trials so hopefully if they hold together we might have a few more before Christmas,” he said.

Jockey Jay Ford said Teaspoon had put in a professional performance to control the race.

“The second horse was challenging was but she gave a nice nick and held on late,” Ford said.

Chris Waller-trained Milanese Girl was sent out the $2.35 favourite but couldn’t run down Teaspoon.