“She’s a dream horse” – Laurie treasuring the moment with star filly
It was a terrific Tuesday for Yulong as the racing and breeding juggernaut celebrated dual stakes success courtesy of their homebred duo Treasurethe Moment (Alabama Express) and Pocketing (Grunt), the respective winners of the Vinery Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 200m) and the Tulloch Stakes (Gr 2, 2000m).
Having negotiated a 50 per cent share in Nathan Doyle’s speed machine Private Harry (Harry Angel) late last week, splashing a reported $8 million on the unbeaten colt, Yulong’s owner Zhang Yuesheng recouped a small chunk of that expenditure thanks to the exploits of a pair of three-year-olds conceived, born and raised on his Nagambie farm.
With Chris Waller’s multiple Group 1 winner Lady Shenandoah (Snitzel) currently spelling, there can be no doubt Treasurethe Moment is the country’s best filly still in training as she extended her picket fence of wins to seven with another imperious performance for trainer Matt Laurie and jockey Damian Lane.
Despite Laurie’s pre-race reservations that the attritional track conditions might be her undoing, Treasurethe Moment doubled her tally of Group 1 wins and carried her prize-money past $1.8 million courtesy of her 1.2-length defeat of Benagil (Manhattan Rain), with Waller’s Declichy Boulevard (Snitzel) rounding out the top three.
It marked a fourth Group 1 triumph for Laurie and his first in New South Wales, having come agonisingly close to claiming last year’s Golden Slipper (Gr. 1, 1200m) with Coleman (Pierata).
The filly justified her cramped quote of $1.40 and she is likely to jump at equally prohibitive odds in the Australian Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) on April 12, her final assignment of the autumn before she is sent for a rest ahead of a spring campaign which is likely to be geared towards the Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m).
“She’s a dream horse,” said Laurie.
“She’ll learn a lot today, because I think she got a little bit lost and she didn’t have that trail into the race. They spread out and she was sitting out on a limb with nothing really to follow, but when she got into the race she was really good late so she’s only going to be better for the experience heading into the Oaks.
“She is proven at the distance [of the Oaks] and she’s going to lap it up. She’s just got better and better. We have been up here for nearly a fortnight now, she lost a little bit of weight on the way up and wasn’t completely settled but as we got deeper in, she just got better and better and I was really pleased with her today.
“Ten days into the Oaks will be perfect. She’s a wonderful horse and she’s got a great brain. She’s a very easy-going horse and very trainable, so she’s bombproof really.”
Treasurethe Moment’s victory completed a very satisfactory 72 hours for Alabama Express (Redoute’s Choice), whose speedy daughter Alabama Lass led her rivals a merry dance in Saturday’s World Pool Sprint Classic (Listed, 1100m) at Flemington.
Yulong have heavily supported their second season sire with a number of their broodmares being served by the 2020 C.F. Orr Stakes (Gr 1 , 1400m) winner, including Draconic Treasure (Street Cry) whose filly by Alabama Express’ barnmate Grunt (O’Reilly) has won two races for Tasmanian trainer Adam Trinder.
Her next filly was retained to race in Yulong’s distinctive bottle green colours, and Laurie is counting his lucky stars that he has been handed the keys to train Treasurethe Moment.
“I feel very blessed,” said Laurie. “They [Yulong] are big players and they are very supportive. They’ve had horses with us for a number of years now, and this filly was from the first batch of Alabama Express that they had bred themselves. How lucky am I to have her in the stable?”
Meanwhile, Richard and Will Freedman will now consult with Yulong and decide whether or not Pocketing presses onto the Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) on Saturday, with connections obliged to pay a late nomination fee.
The tough three-year-old made the quantum leap from a Midway Handicap (1600m) to the Tulloch Stakes, so he is certainly upwardly mobile and Freedman Jnr did not discount the possibility of testing him in Group 1 company in four days’ time.
“There’s obviously a decision to be made,” he said.
“I’ll be guided by Josh [Parr] a bit. He’s gone from the mile to 2000 metres so he is probably entitled to not be savaging the line, but you’ve got to keep the option on the table. You’re only three once and if he doesn’t run in the Derby now, he never will.”
Pocketing is generally rated a $15 chance if he does back up in the Derby, with the odds on King Of Thunder (Tivaci) cut to $8 after his eye-catching run to finish third in the Tulloch Stakes for John O’Shea and Tom Charlton.
Firm Agreement (Yes Yes Yes) split the pair, with co-trainers Annabel Neasham and Rob Archibald set to back him up in the Derby after jockey Tyler Schiller indicated he would relish the step up in trip.