Lee Freedman: I retired Makybe Diva too early following her third Melbourne Cup triumph

TEN years after Makybe Diva won a third successive Melbourne Cup Lee Freedman says he regrets the champion mare was retired straight after the race.

01/11/2005. Jockey Glen Boss rides Makybe Diva to victory in the 2005 Melbourne Cup.

TEN years after Makybe Diva won a third successive Melbourne Cup Lee Freedman says he regrets the champion mare was retired straight after the race.

THE LEGEND: NO DIVA LIKE HER

The Hall of Fame trainer made the startling revelation as he reflected on his association with the best horse he has trained ahead of Saturday’s Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes.

“I’m probably a bit disappointed in myself that I retired her, or the owners retired her on that day, because there was probably some good racing for her beyond that,” Freedman told Melbourne radio RSN Radio & Sport. “But I guess the risk scenario with a horse that valuable and that popular is always ever present.”

Apart from her three Melbourne Cups, Makybe Diva won a Cox Plate, The BMW, the Australian Cup, the Sydney Cup and finished second in a Caulfield Cup.

The Tony Santic-owned mare was retired as a seven-year-old after winning 15 of her 36 races and $14.5 million in prizemoney.

Now a brood mare she had her seventh foal, a Starspangledbanner filly, in Geelong last month.

Freedman said people rightly acknowledged Makybe Diva as one of the all-time greats.

Selfie central: Bree Graham and Natalie Alexander get a selfie in front of Makybe Diva’s statue last year. Picture: Mark Stewart

“She’s had a race named after her, and she’s got a statue at Flemington, which I can’t see there being another one, other than Black Caviar, anytime soon,” he said.

“Wherever you go people generally bring up her name. There’s never been another mare in Australia, other than Let’s Elope, who had that sort of ability over distances.

“Her longevity and her resilience to win those sort of races at her age makes her an exceptional racehorse.”

While Freedman is expected to scratch German import Our Ivanhowe from the Makybe Diva Stakes depriving him of a runner in the race, the champion mare’s Melbourne Cups jockey Glen Boss will ride Happy Trails.

Jockey Glen Boss with a picture of his Melbourne Cup-winning ride on champion mare Makybe Diva. Picture: Michael Klein

Originally published as Lee Freedman: I retired Makybe Diva too early following her third Melbourne Cup triumph