Marnane outlines ambitious plans for Freescape

Jebel Hatta and All-Weather Finals Day on the agenda.

David Marnane has big plans for Freescape following his excellent run in the Singspiel Stakes at Meydan.

The County Tipperary handler is looking forward to the seven-year-old having a second crack at the Jebel Hatta there next month, before heading to All-Weather Finals Day at Newcastle in April.

Freescape advertised his credentials when outrunning his odds of 80-1 when only beaten two lengths in fourth place behind the admirable winner, Lord Glitters, in the Group Two Singspiel over nine furlongs on Friday.

It was arguably a career best, although the Cityscape gelding put in a previous top performance when fifth to Barney Roy in the Group One Jebel Hatta in 2020.

“The plan has been for him to have a couple of runs in Dubai and come back for the all-weather finals at Newcastle. He’s run three times in Dundalk so he’s qualified. We want to run him in the mile race at Newcastle,” said Marnane.

“He’s in Dubai with a view to going up a couple of pounds. He ran a great race on Friday and I don’t think he got the cleanest run in the world. If he’d got a cleaner run, he maybe would have finished third or even second.

“He had a lot of good horses around him and the winner is a monster out there. It was good to be mixing in that company and show he wasn’t an 80-1 shot.

“It was close to a personal best. His last run in Dubai in the Jebel Hatta, when he was drawn 13 of 13, was good. We’ll bring him back in three weeks’ time and run in the Jebel Hatta again. He will meet the same type of horses again.

“I look forward to seeing him there, then him spending a few weeks at home and then go to Newcastle. He ran very well there as a three-year-old on his only run there behind Gronkowski in that Listed race.”

Marnane is excited at a new venture that he launched in Dubai recently. A group of 50 friends and associates have got together to form MRC. Marnane scoured the European sales in the autumn and secured 19 yearlings.

“We have members from all over the world and have 19 horses to go to war with for the next two years. This one is closed now but we might launch another one next year,” he explained.

“We have seven or eight fillies and the rest are colts and we have five or six good, sharp ones. We have horses by Sea The Moon, Time Test, Elzaam, Twilight Son, Make Believe, Cityscape, an Acclamation filly, a Bated Breath filly – a good mix of horses.”

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