A thunderstorm at Sandown almost cost the expensive Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman-trained filly Conscience a debut win at Sandown.
A 90-minute delay because of lightning strikes which also produced 12mm of rain before the IVE> Handicap (1000m) on Wednesday held the two-year-olds up in the tie-up stalls before stewards decided to proceed with the meeting.
The downgrade in track conditions concerned Moody who was equally pleased to see the $1.4 million yearling purchase, a half-sister to Espionage, land a narrow win.
“It’s always a terrific result with those well-bred high-priced fillies,” Moody said.
“We all know the record of those high-priced horses. We bought her thinking she would be a real early type.
“She has that physique, but she’s just taken time, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we stop again.
“I think she will be very well suited to those early season three-year-old filly’s races.
“She got back further than I thought, and further than I would have liked, but she showed the turn of foot of a nice horse with a Stakes future going forward.”
Moody said he had delayed the debut of Conscience after considering starting the filly in the Group 3 Ottawa Stakes (1000m) at Flemington last Saturday.
“I thought she was a gallop short, so she had a gallop instead on Saturday,” Moody said.
“It was a glorified maiden on Saturday. I had three of them in it, I sent one to Adelaide, I ran one in it and kept her for this.
“I thought she was the one that needed the extra gallop, and it nearly cost her.
“She got there, she was going to win by three (lengths) but ran out of gas in the last 100 metres.
“She’s probably recovered a third of her price now being a city winner and if she gets a Stakes win, she can go to any broodmare sale in the world and bring a couple of million.”
The Moody and Coleman stable made it a double when Codigo scored in the Sportsbet Fast Form Handicap.
Codigo is raced by Mark Chittick of Waikato Stud, who with Moody, raced I Wish I Win who was retired on Wednesday after pulling up ‘jarry’ following a track gallop on Tuesday.
The eventful meeting was abandoned at 6.27pm with three races remaining after several jockeys complained of horses slipping at the 700m mark of the Sportsbet Get On Extra Handicap (1800m) won by She’s A Hustler
