Tony Gollan’s bullish assessment of 2024 Five Diamonds hope Freedom Rally: ‘Thought he’d be half those odds’

Freedom Rally has turned around what was a flailing preparation and his trainer is confident it could end with Sydney riches in Saturday’s $2m Five Diamonds.

Tony Gollan has a blunt assessment of Freedom Rally in the Five Diamonds on Saturday as he looks to resurrect his scattered spring campaign in Sydney.

“He’s 20-1 in the market and I’m not sure how he is that price, to be honest,” Gollan said.

“I thought he should be half those odds, we are way over the odds.”

After just missing out on a run in this year’s Stradbroke Handicap, Gollan reckons Freedom Rally is on a similar trajectory to Antino, who did the exactly same thing 12 months earlier.

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Antino would go on to be a beaten favourite in the Five Diamonds last year, however Gollan believes he has Freedom Rally firing at the back end of his campaign, compared to his stable star at the same time.

“I wasn’t happy with how the preparation was unfolding (after the Group 3 Bill Ritchie) so we had to back off him, there were a lot of things not going our way,” Gollan said.

Freedom Rally is looking to win the Five Diamond. Picture: Grant Peters- Trackside Photography.

• EXPERT TIPS: James Molony’s tips and race-by-race analysis for Five Diamonds Day at Rosehill on Saturday

With a month between runs, Freedom Rally bounced back to form in the Five Diamonds Prelude last month, beating home race favourite and fellow Queenslander Yellow Brick.

“The Prelude race showed us he is back on track,” Gollan said.

“We had a plan with how we wanted to ride him in the Prelude and we went there confident enough, but you want to see him do it under race conditions.

“If you look at the Prelude horses into this race, he has to be right up there.

“There are a few different form lines however coming into it now.

“I wouldn’t swap him for anything.”

Territory Express has been a well supported $4 favourite in the race, while Toowoomba horse Yellow Brick is $7.50.

Originally published as Tony Gollan’s bullish assessment of 2024 Five Diamonds hope Freedom Rally: ‘Thought he’d be half those odds’