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By Ray Hickson

Some intensive barrier work and the infamous ear muffs have helped Michael Freedman turn around the fortunes of promising mare Spirit Of Wealth but he needs to see her do it again at Rosehill on Saturday.

Trainer Michael Freedman (Pic: Bradley Photos).

To say the four-year-old has tested the trainer’s patience would be more than fair.

After she was beaten at $1.70 back in early September, where she played up before the start and was fractious in the stalls, Freedman went back to the drawing board.

That meant sending her to Troy Everson, at Whispering Pines, who offered the ear muffs as a possible remedy and it led to Freedman sending her around in them in an easy Hawkesbury win two weeks ago.

“Sometimes those barrier horses aren’t the easiest to turn around,’’ Freedman said.

“She has the ability, we know that, but it’s all about what sort of a mood she’s in.

“She went out to do some barrier work and they did a great job. They suggested we go with the ear muffs and they definitely worked.

“It can be the case with the ear muffs when they actually race with them on they can over react a bit to them and have their brilliance dulled.

“She was a bit wayward up the straight at Hawkesbury and I dare say it may have had something to do with wearing ear muffs for the first time.

“You’d probably like to be able to take them off at the 800m mark but it was good to see her get a confidence boosting win under her belt.”

So can we trust Spirit Of Wealth, $4 with TAB on Thursday, when she returns to town in the TAB Handicap (1100m)?

Freedman said she belongs in city company and that five horse Benchmark 64 at Hawkesbury served its purpose.

“She still ran reasonably quick time but it was all about trying to give her a good day out,’’ he said.

“It was encouraging to see her getting back in the winner’s circle. And getting out of the barriers.

“I’d like to say definitely yes (she’s back) but Spirit Of Wealth being as she is can sometimes have ideas of her own. She’s in good order, it’s a nice sort of race for her.”

If Mystical takes her place in the Group 1 $1 million Golden Gift (1100m) it will be because the reigning Golden Slipper winning trainer believes there’s a way she can win it from a tricky barrier.

The filly has only trialled once but Freedman is quick to point out that the early two-year-old races are run and won off only one trial and that’s not a factor concerning him.

Mystical ran a close second in an 818m trial last Friday.

“You have to remember when they’re getting ready for a Breeders' or Gimcrack they are going in off one trial,’’ he said.

“My view with two-year-olds is it’s a bit different to some of the older horses and I think people sometimes forget they are only going in those races off one trial because that’s basically all there is.

“She’s drawn a little awkwardly so it’s about analysing the race and seeing where she can get to in the run.”

Ducasse missed a place in the Big Dance when he ran third behind Vivy Air, the eventual Big Dance runner-up, in the Wild Card so Freedman is looking for a consolation in the $2 million Five Diamonds (1800m).

Spirit Of Wealth wins at Hawkesbury on October 23

The gelding has only been tried beyond a mile once, as a three-year-old in the Rosehill Guineas, and he said the way he’s racing of late the 1800m at Rosehill might suit him.

“He doesn’t win out of turn but he’s a very consistent horse and I thought his run in the wild card the other day was good,’’ he said.

“He was finishing off the mile very well. From a nice barrier, particularly when you’re running for that type of prizemoney, it’s worth a shy at the stumps.

“He should be able to hold a nice spot and when he’s up at a mile he’s been able to park in the first four or five.”

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday’s meeting at Rosehill