The three-year-old filly is raced by Tom and Julie Kilkelly, Jason McMath and Alan Dennis.
“I would like to say a huge thank you to Tom and Julie. They have supported me 100% throughout my career. Without them, I would not be here today doing what I love,” said Green.
The race was marred by a pile-up on the back straight as Sarah O’Reilly (Snoogood), Gerard O’Reilly (Georgia Trouble) and Sheree Tomlinson (Zhutee) were all tipped from their carts.
The finish was left to three southern fillies: Penelope Lane, Mhor Moonlight and Atlantic City.
At the end of the hard grind Mhor Moonlight (One above Da Moon) was too tough and defeated Atlantic City (Volstead)) by one and a half lengths with Penelope Lane (Volstead)) a neck back in third place.
MHOR MOONLIGHT REPEAT
“It wasn’t how I planned to ride her, but it’s just the way it goes sometimes. Brad (Penelope Lane) kept going with us, so we just had to keep moving forward. I had confidence in the horse and she gave everything for us today.”
Green was confident Mhor Moonlight would perform well today after finishing a close fourth at Winton last week.
“It was a really good run last week. We had a little problem with her a bit of pace, but she trotted superbly, running 3-06 over 2400 meters against the older horses and she acquitted herself well. We knew she was fit to start today’s race. We just had to hope she trotted.”
The win was Kirstin’s 400e as a driver. Her first win was Miss Lyndal for Alan Clyma in Forbury in June 1999.
Of her 400 winners, 69 were for Tom Kilkelly, with the first being Real Golden Girl at Ascot Park in January 2009.
Outside of her wins with her own stable runners, Kirstin has ridden 81 winners for Doug McLachlan, 22 for Tony Barron and 13 for Ricky Gutsell.
Her wins were with El Nino in the 2009 Kindergarten Stakes, U May Cullect in the Uncut Gems, Watch Me Now in the Group One NZ Standardbred Breeders’ Stakes, Tommy Waterhouse in the Uncut Gems and Vessem in the 2023 Kindergarten Stakes.
For full race results, click here.
Through Bruce Stewartfor Harnesslink
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