Morris has only competed at the Horse of the Year Show in Hastings twice before - always in the young and junior rider classes and the last time was five years ago. Since then she had moved to Australia, basing herself at Kalbar, Queensland, with fellow Cantabrians Ross and Mel Smith who also emigrated there, to hone her skills.
Asked why she'd made the return to the country's marquee horse event, she replied: "Horse of the Year, really. Just good mileage. There were two other lead ups that we went to and, ideally, this was the class to focus on."
It's the stuff fairy tales are made of because it was her maiden entry in the title classes this week but, while she had heard of Laurie, she wasn't fazed.
"I guess everyone has in the back of their minds how good she is but my plan today was to focus on my job and stay focused so that's what we did."
So what was the job description?
"To jump clean and go as fast as I can," said Morris with a laugh, the "little mistake" in the Norwood Gold Cup well behind her.
"She [Miss Money Penny] looked at the crowd a little bit [on Wednesday] because it was the first time she had been in the main ring - she's never been in a ring like that before," said Morris of the 8-year-old who she brought from across the ditch.
"Today I was a bit more conscious that she'd look around so I was a bit more focused on her."
Nine combinations came back for the second round, including five-time champion Laurie, of Mystery Creek, who also had the services of Dunstan Breeze, although Dunstan Lucca was posted on the starting list but, it seems, scratched on the day.
The 2011 and 2014 winner, Lucy Fell (nee Akers), of Longburn, also made the cut.
Morris was the second cab off the rank and the flawless jaunt came in 46.82s. Laurie emulated her feat but could only come agonisingly close in 46.98s and so did Lucinda Askin, of Ashburton, on Portofino in her maiden outing in the class. Her pace was a tad shy at 49.93s for third place.
"She's very good. Katie's very hard to beat and the rider to beat all the time so it's amazing to even try to go against her in a competition," she said, hoping to celebrate with a few drinks as a tribute to all her supporters and relatives.
The champion rider had no qualms about going second because adapting to the script enabled her to set the pace without looking over her shoulder, leaving the following riders to grapple with the jangled nerves.
"I just wanted go out and be efficient and just keep her out of the way of the front rail and let her do her job and she would look after me, too."
Morris revealed she'd been adhering to a regimented training session that involved riding up to 20 horses a day for valuable mileage in the saddle as well as tuition with the Smiths in jumping.
Her horse was equally pivotal after going under the surgeon's knife twice for colic several years ago. Miss Money Penny only returned to the arena 18 months ago.
The sticky surface underfoot was tricky despite no rain but the horse jumped well.
Her Canterbury farming parents, Sharron and Glenn Morris, of Oxford, were there to see her excel.
With Glenn, a farmer, and Sharron, a health nurse, equestrian wasn't in the lineage.
Her flirtation came from her best friend, Katelyn Roberts, who exposed her to her ponies for a life-long passion.
"She's house sitting for mum and dad," she revealed, hoping to give her a call to thank her for the introduction.
Morris suspected the Aussie mentality has crept into her psyche but also a level of maturity that demands learning from the best, including pros on TV.
Returning to defend her crown next year will depend on whether she has the "horse power".
The combination are entered for the Premier Stakes starting at 8pm on Saturday so the Olympic Cup from 2.15pm on Sunday is out of the question.
"She's only young and only really jumped 1.40m, 1.45m and not jumped bigger stuff yet so at the moment we'll stick to the premier stakes," said Morris who has competed at World Cup level in Australia on different mounts.
DAY 3 RESULTS
■ Showjumping, Ultra Mox Lady Rider of the Year: Hayley Morris (Australia) Miss Money Penny 1, Katie Laurie (Mystery Creek) Dunstan Springfield 2, Lucinda Askin (Ashburton) Portofino 3, Brooke Edgecombe (Waipukurau) LT Holst Andrea 4, Katie Laurie (Mystery Creek) Dunstan Breeze 5, Lily Tootill (Karaka) Ulysses NZPH 6.
■ Dunstan Nutrition 7-year-old horse of the year (part of the Cortaflex Breeding Series): Melody Matheson (Hastings) Graffiti MH 1, Fraser Tombleson (Gisborne) Mea I 2, Leeshelle Small (Auckland) AMS Ajaccio NZPH 3, Daniel Blundell (Ocean Beach) Athena NZPH 4, Jesse Linton (Hastings) Popeye 5, Nakeysha Lammers (Hikurangi) Absolute NZPH 6.
■ Dressage, level 4 horse of the year: Melissa Galloway (Blenheim) Windermere JObèi W 1, Vanessa Way (Taranaki) NSC Pronto 2.
■ Level 2 horse of the year: Lorraine Ward-Smith (Oamaru) Fernlea Diamond Day 1, Alex Matheson (Cambridge) Furstango 2.
■ Level 1 horse of the year: Gaylene Lennard (Te Aroha) Jax Johnson 1, John Thompson (Hamilton) JHT Replay 2.
