![Magnatear will tackle the Shannon Stakes as the Freedmans build towards his main target in the $3 million Big Dance. [Bradley Photos]](https://betsy.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/2172907.jpg)
Richard and Will Freedman began the week thinking Magnatear would be an unlikely starter in the Shannon Stakes, but having had a change of heart, the consistent gelding is now set to run.
The original plan was to give Magnatear one more outing in the Alan Brown Stakes (1400m) ahead of his primary target, the $3 million Big Dance (1600m) at Randwick on Melbourne Cup day.
But Will Freedman said they had decided it was smarter to give the seven-year-old an extra run under his belt this weekend to ensure he was at his peak for grand final day in November.
“We’d hate to be half a run short coming into the Big Dance, so we thought we’d give him an extra run now rather than try to squeeze one in after the Alan Brown if we felt he was slightly underdone,” Will Freedman said.
“It will be this one, then the Alan Brown, and then the Big Dance.”
Magnatear has been a wonderful advertisement for the Freedmans’ since joining their yard just under two years ago.
Qualifying for the Big Dance by winning the Muswellbrook Cup (1500m) in March, he resumed with an arguably career-best performance when runner-up to Skyhook in the Theo Marks Stakes (1300m).
He has seven wins and 15 placings from 32 starts and prizemoney of more than $750,000, and Will Freedman says the horse has been a crucial stalwart for the stable.
“He’s a fine wine. He just gets better,” he said.
“I was having a conversation with a friend of mine and he said, ‘he’s so good for your business’, and I said, ‘no he’s actually terrible for my business because if he wasn’t around there might have been times I could have gone on to a different career and lived a comfortable life!’
“He just keeps coming back and he’s so honest. If you had a barn full of horses like him you’d be very happy.”
A field of 10 will contest the Shannon Stakes, with the winner exempt from a ballot and penalty for next week’s Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) at Randwick.
Magnatear has the inside draw and has missed a top-three finish just once in five second-up runs.
