New Zealand-bred filly Jenni In Rome has finally arrived in Sydney after a challenging transit involving three attempted starts and a custom-made freight container. Trainers Richard and Will Freedman are pleased to report her smooth acclimatisation since her arrival.
Acquired from the Karaka Sale, the two-year-old encountered an unexpected difficulty when she refused to board a standard crate for what should have been a simple flight across the Tasman.
“It took them three goes to get her from New Zealand here on the plane,” Will Freedman explained. “These big New Zealand men were trying to lift her on, and she was like, ‘nope, not having a bar of it’. She just refused to go anywhere near it. They ended up putting her on (the plane) without the container, and then they built it around her. There was one point where I felt like I was going to have to tell the owners I was going to train her remotely in New Zealand. But she has come over here and been bombproof.”
After showcasing promise in her barrier trials, Jenni In Rome demonstrated a strong finishing burst from the second half of the field to finish third in the Kirkham Plate (1000m) on her debut.
She appeared to be the winner halfway up the straight but ultimately peaked on her run in the final 100 metres. Freedman anticipates that she will derive significant benefit from that initial race experience heading into the Golden Gift (1100m) at Rosehill this Saturday, despite the disadvantage of an outside draw.
“She had a really healthy, big blow after her first start and I think she needed that run,” Freedman commented. “She’s come through the run well. She looks like a pre-Christmas two-year-old. I remember looking at her in the yard in the Kirkham, and she was smaller in stature than a lot of her counterparts, but quite often those are the two-year-olds that really do thrive at this time of year.”
Jenni In Rome will be racing at Rosehill for the first time, but she is stabled at the track and had the advantage of a course proper gallop there on Monday.
The filly will be partnered by her regular rider, Jason Collett, who was on board for the Monday workout. The Golden Gift boasts $1 million in prize money, a sum that will effectively guarantee a start in next year’s Golden Slipper for both the winner and the second-place finisher.
“She got a look around the course proper on Monday, which is a big thing for these two-year-olds. She’s not going to have to go to an unfamiliar environment,” Freedman added. “It’s all about the little details that make a big difference in the end.”
The Golden Gift has drawn a full field of 14 runners plus four reserves, and Jenni In Rome is among seven contestants who have prior race experience.
Consider the racing odds for the Golden Gift with Australian betting sites.