“Trials can be a little bit misleading sometimes in that respect, but he looks to be reasonably comfortable on it, so I think if it got back into the soft range on Saturday, it would be OK,” he said.
Pallaton is a $2.50 favourite with Sportsbet from gate one with usual rider Tommy Berry aboard.
Marhoona, meanwhile, is set to trial for the first time this preparation on Tuesday at Randwick.
Jockey Tommy Berry and trainer Michael Freedman after Pallaton’s debut win in December.Credit: Getty Images
“At this stage, we’ll look at kicking off in the Furious Stakes here, or possibly the Moir in Victoria,” Freedman said.
Like Pallaton, Apocalyptic made an early impression as a two-year-old, flashing home for second at Randwick on debut, before setbacks. She returned with an eye-catching trial at Warwick Farm last week.
“She had a foot abscess, which took a fair while to resolve, and you can’t miss too much with two-year-olds in the autumn,” Freedman said of her one-run first campaign.
“She had a nice break, and she’s come back bigger and stronger.”
The returns come amid an exciting time for Freedman’s operation, which has expanded to include a Gold Coast stable managed by his brother, hall of fame trainer Lee.
“I’m leaving Lee to do his thing with them up there – that’s the beauty of having him there. I wouldn’t be doing it otherwise,” he said.
“I’m just trying to identify horses who might be slightly better suited there. It takes a bit of time to bed those things down, but it’s nice to have Lee involved, and hopefully we can have some success up there in the years to come.”
Freedman was also among those to receive horses from Godolphin under its new public training operation. Ohope got the new connection off to a winning start on Tuesday at Hawkesbury, and Polyglot ($4.60 favourite) could add to that at Rosehill in the ninth, although Freedman was unsure about him resuming from gate 13.
“He’s a lovely horse, and I’ve been very happy with him,” he said. “We’ll just be taking him through his grades. Whether that kicks off on Saturday or we have a rethink, we’ll work that out.
“They’ve given me some nice yearlings. They obviously have good pedigrees, so it’s nice to be in the mix with them.”
Ninja, an odds-on favourite in the third, is another strong chance for Freedman at Rosehill. He won by 11 lengths at Kembla at his second start.
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“He obviously got through the heavy ground at Kembla all right, and I think he appreciated getting onto a bigger track,” he said.
“He got into a nice rhythm in only a four-horse field on a heavy track, so keeping it in context, the margin is probably insignificant really. But he looks like a nice, progressive horse, and he should appreciate the 1300 on a track like Rosehill.”
Bunker Hut, an $8 shot in the last, was his other runner. The race, and the third, were boosted to $200,000 after last week’s washout at Randwick.
“It’s unfortunate they changed it from a benchmark 88 to a 94,” he said. “It’s made it a tougher assignment, but I’m very happy with him, he’s going very well and he’s drawn a nice gate to get a soft run.”