Horse shy filly lands debut plunge

Jamie Kah does not believe she has ridden a horse that is as ‘horse shy’ as debut Mornington winner Liberated Girl.

The Peter Moody-trained daughter of Iffraaj scored in the Polvin Fencing Straight Maiden Plate (1500m) on Wednesday under a patient ride from Kah.

“I wanted to slot in three-wide with cover, but she wouldn’t go near any horses,” Kah told racing.com

“She was laying out and got a bit of a bump and she wanted to hang out, she’s very green.

“I haven’t ridden a horse that horse shy for a while, but when I pushed the button on her she was all professional and took the race away.”

A well-backed $3.60 second favourite, Liberated Girl raced to a 1-¼ length win from Hardly Sweet ($4.80) with Perpetual Grace ($4.20) a further 4-½ lengths off third.

Moody said he may give the filly another start before looking to the Queensland Winter Carnival in the middle of 2022.

“A special thanks to John Foote,” Moody said.

“He sourced this filly in New Zealand for Mick Power who has been a client of mine from 20 years ago, so it’s been a good result for the team.

“She’s a lovely filly and she’s from a great old family from over there in New Zealand.

“I don’t know where it will stop, but we’ll keep stepping her up until we find that ceiling.

“Most of the ownership group is based up in Queensland, so she’s a filly that might have one more run and then we could aim her at a Queensland Winter Carnival and take her up to the boys hometown.”

Moody said Liberated Girl was a busy type that has learnt to relax with each preparation.

“It was a nice win. She got back, tracked wide, but she rounded the race out nicely,” Moody said.

“We’ve given her plenty of time to furnish and grow and she’s still got more development ahead.”