Champion jockey Glen Boss pays tribute to semi-retired legendary trainer Lee Freedman

Shortly after the great mare Makybe Diva had won a record third straight Melbourne Cup carrying 58kg at Flemington, Freedman came up with the line that will be forever etched in the history of the race that stops a nation.

• PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet’s team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW!

“Go out and find the smallest child here because that child might be the only person who lives long enough to see something like this again,” Freedman said at the time.

For Boss, the clever comment encapsulated the trainer’s razor-sharp wit and intelligence that helped him jag 124 Group 1s and cemented his standing as a household name in Australia.

Freedman, who turns 69 on Tuesday, has slipped quietly into semi-retirement, opting not to renew his trainer’s licence for the new racing season.

He is now solely the manager of his Gold Coast stable, which has been handed over to his younger brother and Sydney trainer Michael Freedman.

• Gollan reveals spring carnival team and target races

Boss chatted to Racenet this week about the profound effect that Lee Freedman and his brothers Anthony, Richard and Michael had on his illustrious career which ended in 2021.

Hall of Fame trainer Freedman gave Boss his big break in 1995 on Flying Spur, who the Queenslander rode to victory in the Golden Slipper just a few days after Jim Cassidy’s licence had been disqualified due to the “jockey tapes” scandal.

“Until you sit back and look at his record, you forget how great this bloke was,” Boss said from South Africa, where the retired hoop is holidaying with his family.

“His sense of timing was always good.

“I mean that pivotal moment when the mare (Makybe Diva) won in the Cup in 2005 and he said that line ‘go find the smallest child’, those sort of things go down in history.

“I don’t think he scripted that, I think it came straight out of his mouth.

“I remember seeing Lee around parties and things like that and he’s a funny guy with a great sense of humour.

“He’s great company and super intelligent to talk to. Not that many people would’ve got to see the fun side of Lee.”

• Laurie eyes spring carnival success with Group 1 star

Lee Freedman won five Melbourne Cups, with Boss on board for two of those victories on Makybe Diva in 2004 and 2005, plus four Caulfield Cups, four Golden Slippers and two Cox Plates.

“Having been around him and observed him a fair bit, Lee has an incredible eye for detail which never ceases to amaze me,” said the 55-year-old Boss, who won 90 Group 1s.

“He always knew exactly where his horses were and how to push the button at the right time.

“It’d amaze me how he’d just look at a horse and say ‘yep, we’re ready now’ or he’d say ‘nup, we need to do one more thing’.

“He was never set to a pattern with a horse. He’d change his mind on the fly and he had unbelievable instincts.”

As the driving force behind the famous Freedman Brothers Incorporated (FBI), Lee played a key role in bringing then-teenage apprentice jockey Damien Oliver from Perth to Melbourne in 1990 when he won the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas on Centro for the powerful stable.

Oliver and the Freedmans combined for a superb 24 elite-level victories in the 1990s, including champion stayer Doriemus winning the Melbourne Cup-Caulfield Cup double in 1995.

“They played a big part in getting me over to Melbourne and gave me fantastic opportunities as a young apprentice,” said Oliver, who won an Australian record 129 Group 1s.

“Lee and all the brothers were very ambitious and that sort of shone through to me.

“I was a bit like that anyway but they really brought that side out of me.”

Originally published as Champion jockey Glen Boss pays tribute to semi-retired legendary trainer Lee Freedman