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After a first few months testing the waters, Australian Hall of Fame trainer Lee Freedman has claimed the Singapore champion trainer’s title at his first full season at Kranji.

The 60-year-old won seven Melbourne champion trainer titles, but had seen his star dim in the last few years which saw him retire, make comebacks in partnership with brothers as well as stints as racing consultants.

His career had become a little stale, hence, his decision for a fresh start under new skies last September. Replacing nine-time Singapore champion trainer Laurie Laxon, Freedman did not spring out of the starting blocks as most would have expected, but the five-time Melbourne Cup-winning trainer has really hit the ground running this year, especially in the second half.

Tied in a close battle with Shane Baertschiger and to a lesser extent, Michael Clements, Freedman has slowly drawn clear in the last month or so, courtesy of arguably a more homogeneous string of horses across the board.

At the wire, Freedman finished tops on 67 winners, eight more than Baertschiger with Clements third on 54. Last year’s champion Mark Walker finished fourth on 46 winners.

Freedman, who won two feature races, the Group 2 Chairman’s Trophy (1600m) with Circuit Land and the Group 1 Singapore Guineas (1600m) with Mr Clint, said that supreme reward was the fruit of teamwork, coupled with the application of his core training system and a few tweakings to suit the new jurisdiction’s characteristics.

“It’s great to be crowned champion trainer in Singapore. We had set out to achieve that this year,” said Freedman whose younger brother Michael often finished in the Top 5 during his nine years at Kranji (2008 to 2016), coming the closest in 2012 when tied with Laxon but took second place on a countback for seconds.

“It’s been difficult, but overall, we’ve had a good year which is also thanks to the staff. Some of them were inexperienced, but we’ve learned together.

“When I just got here, we had to acclimatise and get to know the horses and train them. In essence, I used the same routine and the same system I’ve always had, for example the same feeding, but I also had to very much train them horse by horse.

“I probably had to shorten their workouts as they tend to be more on the pace here, there was a lot of swimming. It’s worked out terrific.

“And last but not least, a big thank you also to all my owners. The backbone of my support is made up mainly of Thai, Hong Kong and local owners, and we couldn’t have done it without them.”

When asked what were Lee Freedman’s plans now that first Singapore crown is tucked away, his answer could not have been more candid.

“More great Singapore racing!”