The filly who refused to fly now chasing $1 million Golden Gift

It took three false starts and a custom-built freight container for New Zealand-born filly Jenni In Rome to arrive in Sydney, but luckily for trainers Richard and Will Freedman, there has been no sign of trouble since.

The two-year-old was purchased out of the Karaka Sale, but as she was readied for what would normally be a straightforward plane trip across the Tasman, she refused to get in her crate.

“It took them three goes to get her from New Zealand here on the plane,” Will Freedman said.

“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 showing ability in her barrier trials, Jenni In Rome closed strongly from the second half of the field to finish third in the Kirkham Plate (1000m) on debut.

Halfway up the straight, she looked the winner, only to peak on her run over the final 100m, and Freedman expects her to take good improvement from that experience into Saturday’s Golden Gift (1100m) at Rosehill, albeit she will have to overcome an outside draw.

“She had a really healthy, big blow after her first start and I think she needed that run,” Freedman said.

“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 having her first race start at Rosehill, but she is trained at the track and has had the benefit of a course proper gallop there on Monday.

Regular rider Jason Collett partnered her in the workout and will again be in the saddle for the Golden Gift, the $1 million prizemoney purse all but ensuring the winner and second placegetter bank enough to guarantee a start in next year’s Golden Slipper.

“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 said.

“It’s all about the little details that make a big difference in the end.”

A full field of 14 and four reserves has been accepted for the Golden Gift with Jenni In Rome one of seven youngsters with race experience.