Four-year-old mare Ancient Girl (NZ) (Turn Me Loose) has maintained her perfect record since joining the stable of Steve O’Dea and Matthew Hoysted with a determined victory at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday.

A stakes-winning daughter of Turn Me Loose for Victorian trainer Clint McDonald, Ancient Girl was sold at the Chairman’s Sale for $220,000 earlier this year where she was purchased by Trilogy Racing.

Sent to Queensland, Ancient Girl has now added metropolitan victories at Doomben and the Sunshine Coast in her first two starts for her new connections.
Enjoying her racing as an on-speed galloper, like her Windsor Park Stud-based leading young sire Turn Me Loose (Iffraaj), Ancient Girl began well from a wide gate (15) in the 1400m event and pushed forward to lead under Boris Thornton, who rated the mare to perfection.Despite being tackled mid-stretch, Ancient Girl dug deep to stave off the challenge of Canasta and Love Sensation and land the prize.

“She has been fantastic and it is obviously great for Trilogy Racing who picked her up and were able to send her up to us,” Hoysted said.
“It is good to get back-to-back wins with her and she was probably lacking a bit of confidence in Melbourne.
“She just had to be able to run up to some of her earlier form as she was always going to be really well placed up here.”

Hoysted was impressed with the resolve shown by the mare over the concluding stages, a trait passed on from her Champion Sprinter/Miling sire.

“When they got to her she really responded well late to Boris,” he said.
“It was a fantastic front-running ride and she was pulling away from the opposition late which was really good to see.”

Jockey Boris Thornton was equally impressed with the mare.

"We had to do a little bit of work to get across from the gate, but she got there comfortably enough and she came back under me terrifically well.

“I knew she has a ripping turn of foot on her and she had plenty left in the tank at the end."

"She's got that fight and that will to be a racehorse, which will take her a long way. She's a mare in form, and there's no reason why she shouldn't be able to string some more wins together from here."

Sold in Melbourne as a yearling for A$150,000, Ancient Girl was bred by David Morris and Jason Thomasen.

The winner of the Listed Morphettville Guineas (1600m) as a 3YO last season, Ancient Girl was also narrowly beaten into third in the Gr.3 Vanity Stakes (1400m) behind Barb Raider, and with Saturday’s victory the talented mare secures her fifth win from fifteen starts.

With his eldest just four, Turn Me Loose has averaged over 100 mares every season at stud and has seven stakes winners to his credit including three Group winners this season headed by Group One winner Licketysplit.

A triple Group One winning son of Iffraaj, Turn Me Loose will stand for a fee of $18,000 + GST at Windsor Park Stud this season and boasts a healthy 5.6 percent stakes-winners to runners.