‘I would never question his loyalty’: Will Freedman remembers great mate Sam Kavanagh

After Will Freedman started his own stable at Scone in 2020, a few people asked him if he was sure about aligning himself with Sam Kavanagh.

Freedman, the next generation of a famous training family, ignored them.

And he’s glad he did.

Sam Kavanagh lost his long battle with cancer on Saturday.Credit: Getty Images

“He was a lovable villain at times, but he was very loyal,” Freedman said of Kavanagh, who died on Saturday morning at age 38 after an 18-month battle with cancer.

“To those close to him, he had incredibly high integrity, which may seem strange for somebody who got embroiled in the troubles he had, but I would never question his morality.

“We would speak for an hour most days on the phone and I would never question his loyalty.

“I think everybody who’s been in the industry long enough would have had a meaningful conversation with him, and when you spoke to him, he gave you 100 per cent of him. That’s something I hold a pretty high value on.”

Freedman, now co-training with his father, Richard, had a win with Zoubaby at Randwick on Saturday and dedicated it to Kavanagh.

“It was nice to have that win,” he said.

“It was a tough day. I’m not really an emotional person – I don’t think many horse trainers are – but it was an emotional day. You have to keep moving forward and life goes on, and I’m sure he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

“If there is a heaven, I’m sure he’s already having a punt.”

Tommy Berry riding Zoubaby to victory at Randwick last Saturday.Credit: Getty Images

The pair became close when Kavanagh, the son of Flemington trainer Mark, was rebuilding his training career at Muswellbrook following a four-and-a-half year ban after cobalt and caffeine were found in a sample taken from Midsummer Sun in 2015. The fallout from the saga included Kavanagh’s estrangement from his parents.

“A few people at the time said, are you sure you want to align yourself with Sam?” Freedman said.

“But I ignored them, and anyone who spent the time to get to know Sam, he was impossible not to like.

“He was an eternal optimist. Three days before he passed, he was talking about going to Magic Millions. He knew how he was going to restart his stable.

“He had stage four cancer for almost 12 months, and he was still trying to figure out how he was going to get back to the top of his game.”

Kavanagh had nominations for this week, but they did not accept, meaning his last runner – Sharpen The Knives at Armidale on December 8 – was a winner.

“He would have wanted it that way, his last horse to be a winner,” Freedman said.

“He loved winning … it got crunched as well, so I’d say he wouldn’t have been shy on having a punt on it either, so even better.”

The Freedman-trained Cold Brew was second to Lough Eske in the Vale Sam Kavanagh maiden at Newcastle on Thursday.

A GoFundMe page set up for Kavanagh’s fiancée, Kelly Fawcett, and their daughter, Sienna, 11, has raised more than $57,000.

Freedman has one likely runner, Elettrica, at Randwick on Saturday.

“She’s just had a bit of a freshen up. It’s a bit of a prep run,” he said.

“She’s being aimed at the Wyong Belle Of The Turf, but she’ll have a run over 1400. She’s there to win, but the grand final is 10 days later.”