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Liefting rewarded for selfless act
Joshua Smith, LOVERACING.NZ News Desk • September 18th, 2025 6:44 pm
Rudy Liefting purchased subsequent Group One winner Grail Seeker (pictured) as a yearling | Photo: Kenton Wright (Race Images)
Rudy Liefting gave up the opportunity to train subsequent Group One winner Grail Seeker a few years ago, and he is being rewarded for his selflessness with the rise of another exciting filly.
Liefting purchased Grail Seeker, under his Kakapo Lodge banner, out of Jamieson Park’s 2022 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft for $130,000 on behalf of clients Sir Trevor Clarke and Chris Jones.
While the market proved to be too hot for his initial budget, he managed to coerce his clients to extend a little to secure her.
“On the budget I was allocated I was struggling to buy anything,” Liefting said. “I said to Chris, ‘this is hopeless, I can’t get near anything, our budget isn’t even getting a first bid in’.
“I did notice that the Iffraaj fillies were good value for money, and I went around and had a look at every Iffraaj filly and I came across this filly. I told Chris that I saw one stunner, I went around and showed him her and he fell in love with her. The reserve was $130,000 and we got her right on the money.”
Liefting was rapt to secure the filly, and while he would have loved to have trained her, he advised his clients to put her in the care of a bigger stable, and she found a home with Wexford Stables.
She has gone on to win four and place in four of her 14 starts to date for trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott, including victories in the Gr.1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m), Gr.1 Telegraph (1200m) and Gr.2 Wellington Guineas (1400m).
“I sat down with Chris and I said a filly like her might be better in a bigger stable,” Liefting said. “I didn’t want to because I have always dreamed of training a horse like her, but I prefer the cheaper ones, it is a bit less pressure.”
Liefting found a cheaper one a year later in Unrestrained, who he purchased as a weanling for Clarke and Jones for $4,000 out of Little Avondale Stud’s New Zealand Bloodstock National Weanling and Broodmare Sale draft.
“I said to Chris ‘what about buying a couple of cheapies at the weanling sales?’ and I bought her (Unrestrained),” Liefting said.
“Trevor McKee had her grandmother, Royal Tiara, and she won the Auckland Cup (Gr.1, 3200m). The pedigree all stacked up and she was quite a nice type. We didn’t want to spend a lot of money and she fell into the budget as well.”
Liefting said the daughter of Time Test has shown a lot of promise the whole way through but has proven to be a bit of a handful.
“She has been really difficult on the ground to handle. We have just had to spend more time with her,” he said.
“She got scratched at the barriers twice at the trials because she wouldn’t load. We have got on top of those issues, but she is not easy at home. She is nice to ride, but she is not easy on the ground.”
Unrestrained was runner-up in two trials before making her debut over 1200m at Ruakaka earlier this month where she finished runner-up behind Transcend.
“I was really happy with the run,” Liefting said. “I am pretty confident I left a stack of improvement in her that day. It was only her first start on raceday and she got scratched at the trials, so she missed her trial going into it. I think she will get at least one or two lengths improvement out of it.”
Liefting will find out if his assessment his correct on Saturday when he heads to Ellerslie with the filly where she will have her first crack at stakes level in the Gr.3 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Sunline Vase (1400m).
“We will get a bit of a measure of her and see if she is up to it or not,” he said. “It’s a good opportunity to get some black-type if we can sneak into a place.”
Unrestrained has drawn barrier five on Saturday and will be ridden by Joe Doyle.
“I was praying for a good draw and that might give her a chance,” Liefting said. “She seems to have a bit of tactical speed, so she might get into a nice position. Joe Doyle is riding her, he rode her once at the trials.”
A day prior at Te Aroha, Liefting will line-up Mont Ventoux in the J SWAP Great New Zealand Hurdle (4200m).
“I have got him as good as I can get him,” he said. “I don’t know how he is going to go because it is a bit tougher field than last year, where he ran second.
“When he finished fourth last-start (in the Pakuranga Hunt Hurdle), he had come off a bit of a freshen-up, so he will take a bit of improvement out of that. I think he will still be an outside place chance.” – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
