Cover image courtesy of Michael McInally
The colt joined a stellar 2021 roll of honour for trainers Richard and Michael Freedman, who had previously captured the G1 Golden Slipper with another member of Extreme Choice’s first crop, Stay Inside, and who also won the G1 Surround S. with Forbidden Love (All Too Hard).
“It’s been an amazing year,” Michael Freedman said on Saturday afternoon. “If you’d told me in January that we were going to win three big races, two of them with 2-year-olds, I would have told you that you were mad. But we have a big crew of staff who all do a terrific job.
"If you’d told me in January that we were going to win three big races, two of them with 2-year-olds, I would have told you that you were mad." - Michael Freedman
“I think it’s been at least 15 years since I’ve been up here, so it’s a big thrill to come back and win this race today.”
Tiger Of Malay became the third stakes winner from just a handful of first-crop runners by Extreme Choice, propelling his progeny’s earnings past $3 million and leapfrogging his high-flying fellow Newgate Farm rookie stallion Capitalist to regain the lead in a tight race for first-season sire honours.
It also added to an incredible season for Tiger Of Malay’s ownership group, comprised of the likes of Newgate, the China Horse Club, SF Bloodstock, Go Bloodstock, Horse Ventures, Starlight Racing, Glenlogan Park, Highgrove Stud, Nick Vass Bloodstock, Aston Bloodstock, Grant Bloodstock Pty Ltd, Carpe Diem and G1G Racing & Breeding.
A near-identical partnership captured the G1 Champagne S. at Randwick last month with Captivant (Capitalist), as well as the $1 million Arrowfield 3YO Sprint with Wild Ruler (Snitzel), while several members of the group also share in the ownership of the Slipper hero Stay Inside.
Tiger Of Malay’s heroics on Saturday completed back-to-back BRC Sires’ Produce S. victories for the group, who shared ownership of the 2019 winner Strasbourg (I Am Invincible). The race was not run last year because of COVID-19.
“They’re a great group of people to train for,” Freedman said. “After this horse’s last start in Sydney, we all sat down and thought, ‘Well, where do we go here?’ And we thought Brisbane was a nice option.”
Michael Freedman | Image courtesy of Michael McInally
A reversal of fortunes
Tiger Of Malay was a $255,000 purchase by China Horse Club and Newgate from Tyreel Stud’s draft at the 2020 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, and he began his career on a perfect note with a powerful debut victory in the Kirkham Plate at Randwick in October.
The Freedmans have endured a frustrating time with him since then, finishing fifth on wet ground in the G2 Silver Slipper, a troubled second in the G3 Pago Pago S., and a last-start seventh on another rain-affected track in the G1 Sires’ Produce S.
It was a different story on Saturday as jockey Craig Williams – replacing Mark Zahra, who was stranded in Melbourne because of this week’s COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown – settled in a midfield position before creeping forward coming up to the home turn.
Williams brought Tiger Of Malay out into clear air at the top of the straight and let him rip, and he bounded to the lead with 200 metres to run.
Converge (Frankel {GB}) and Port Louis (Maurice {Jpn}) unleashed flying finishes from the back and got close, but Tiger Of Malay held them out in an exceptional win.
The chestnut colt has now had six starts for two wins and a placing, earning $736,250 in stakes.
Tiger Of Malay as a yearling
It was a hugely satisfying result for Freedman, whose last taste of BRC Sires’ Produce S. success came with the great Mahogany (Last Tycoon {Ire}) back in 1993.
“We’ve always had a very good opinion of this horse, but he just hasn’t had a great deal of luck with barriers and tracks and things like that,” Freedman said. “The last decent track he raced on was the Pago Pago, where he was arguably a bit unlucky.
“We’ve always had a very good opinion of this horse (Tiger Of Malay), but he just hasn’t had a great deal of luck with barriers and tracks and things like that." - Michael Freedman
“We had to regroup after the Sires’ in Sydney, where he drew wide and over-raced a bit with blinkers on, and he dropped out to finish near the back.
“But I came here today thinking that, if he got the right run, he could run a super race.”
Rookie Sires’ incredible start rolls on
Tiger Of Malay’s BRC Sires’ Produce S. victory has added to the astonishing dominance of Australia’s first-season sire landscape this season by Newgate’s new kids on the block.
Extreme Choice and Capitalist have both broken through the $3 million barrier with their progeny’s earnings this season. Arrowfield's Shalaa (Ire) is at $1.85 million in third place.
Blue Diamond winner Extreme Choice produced only 46 foals in his first crop, but 13 of them have raced and five have been winners.
Stay Inside takes top billing with his Golden Slipper triumph, while Tiger Of Malay is now a Group 2 winner and Xtremetime won the Listed Woodlands S. at Rosehill on May 15. Extreme Warrior also picked up a black-type placing in the Listed Debutant S. in Melbourne.
Extreme Choice | Standing at Newgate Farm
