SHE’S A TREASURE!
Yulong’s wonderful spring continues as their resident stallion Alabama Express secures his first Group 1 winner
Yulong’s Treasurethe Moment (Alabama Express) confirmed her star status as the best staying three-year-old in Australia when she stormed to victory in Thursday’s VRC Oaks (Gr 1, 2500m) at Flemington.
Handing her trainer Matt Laurie with his third Group 1 victory, the filly became another big winner for owners Yulong as well as providing their resident second-season sire Alabama Express (Redoute’s Choice) his first Group 1 winner.
Thursday’s win comes five days after Treasurethe Moment became Alabama Express’ third individual stakes winner when comfortably landing the Wakeful Stakes (Gr 2, 2000m), also at Flemington.
Sent out the $3 favourite on Thursday to complete the tried-and-tested stakes double, Treasurethe Moment travelled well approaching the 400-metre mark and, when rider Damian Lane asked her to quicken with 300 metres left to run, she responded in fine style to hit the front, before readily holding off the late challenge of Powers Of Opal (Ocean Park), crossing the line 1.25 lengths ahead of that rival.
The Waikato Stud-raced Hurry Curry (Ocean Park) finished a further 1.5 lengths away in third.
It was a painless watch. It is a dream to win a Group 1 this week. It is 20 years of work really trying to achieve something like this
With her win in the Classic, Treasurethe Moment became the 39th filly to complete the Wakeful Stakes-VRC Oaks double and, before Thursday, Willowy (Kermadec) in 2021 was the last filly to complete the feat.
“I can’t really put it into words. I’m still shaking,” Laurie said. “It was a painless watch. It is a dream to win a Group 1 this week. It is 20 years of work really trying to achieve something like this. I’m just so grateful to my team at home and to Team Yulong. They have supported me.
“This is a homebred and her progress to win a Group 1 is incredible. She is obviously very talented. She aids herself in the way she just goes to sleep in the run. She conserves all her energy and she lets down.
“Having Yulong’s backing is incredible. They’ ve been such a positive thing for the industry and to have them in my corner, I feel very privileged. This is a dream. We will celebrate long and hard I can guarantee that.”
Damian Lane, who completed the Wakeful Stakes-VRC Oaks double on the Mathew Ellerton and Simon Zahra-trained Aristia (Lonhro) in 2018, revealed he was confident of a bold showing from Treasurethe Moment on Thursday.
“It [the Wakeful Stakes-VRC Oaks double] is a tried and tested method. I did the same on Aristia,” Lane said. “She is a beauty and kept improving this preparation. I was confident that was the right form. A couple of other horses coming through which you weren’t sure of – the Spring Champion and the Ethereal. I was as confident as you can be.
“I just whipped her into the three back, one off position. She jumps well so it gives you a good option in the first part of the race. I got a nice bit of speed where I could tuck in. [She] travelled perfectly throughout the run.
“I was pretty happy with the run I had. The advantage that she has is that she begins well, so you it gives you that option to be a little bit positive and I said to Matty before we went out I’d rather take the risk rather than being negative or too positive, just take the risk that we can get in and then from there we can win.
“Matt said to me before I rode her last start he thought that she was a really good horse in the making. She has proved them right. She is a bloody ripper.”
Lane is now hopeful that Treasurethe Moment can go on with her career following Thursday’s Group 1 breakthrough, with Aristia having failed to win again after her Oaks triumph.
“She actually gave me a very similar feel to Aristia on Saturday, but hopefully she can go on with it a little more,” Lane said.
For Yulong’s general manager Vin Cox, he was celebrating his second-consecutive Oaks win after Zardzoi’s (Kingman) victory 12 months prior when he was managing director of Godolphin Australia.
“I wouldn’t say I’m good at it, I just happen to be around at the right time,” Cox said of another Oaks win.
“It’s no secret Mr Zhang put a lot of money into this business and to get a result like this is testament to his dedication, intent and ambition. You go into a spring hoping to win a nice race but we’ve had a great spring. You have to pinch yourself. It seems easy at the moment but it’s not that easy.
“This filly is unbeaten in her last four starts, she cruised into the Wakeful and she cruised again today. I thought she was brilliant. She is a homebred and we stand the sire Alabama Express, so it’s a big result for Yulong.”
Treasurethe Moment’s victory was another recent big-race success for Yuesheng Zhang’s powerhouse operation Yulong having had Via Sistina (Fastnet Rock) dominate the headlines in recent weeks following her record-breaking Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) romp. Meanwhile, Tycoon Star – who is by another of their stallions in Written Tycoon (Iglesia) – flew the flag for the operation when she landed the Maribyrnong Plate (Gr 3, 1000m) on Melbourne Cup day.
Via Sistina will bid to provide Yulong with yet another Group 1 win during the Melbourne Cup Carnival when she tackles Saturday’s Champions Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) at headquarters.
“You never expect, you only hope,” Cox said, referring to Via Sistina potentially being crowned the world’s best racehorse when the latest Longines world rankings are released.
“If Via Sistina ends up on top that would be fantastic, but we’re very grateful for what she has done already. How she gets rated is up to those who assess and judge those things.”
Bred and raced by Yulong, Treasurethe Moment (3 f Alabama Express – Draconic Treasure by Street Cry) is the second winner out of the winning Street Cry (Machiavellian) mare Draconic Treasure, who Yulong and BBA Ireland purchased for US$320,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale in 2016 and is also the dam of dual winner Mihoko Takeo (Grunt).
Thursday’s win was Treasurethe Moment’s fourth in succession, and fifth of her seven-start career to date and Thursday’s victory saw her earnings soar past the $1 million mark.
Draconic Treasure, who died in 2022, is herself out of winning Invincible Spirit (Green Desert) mare Hazy Glow, who is a half-sister to US Grade 1 winner Rich Tapestry (Holy Roman Emperor).
Alabama Express has sired 19 winners from 48 starters in total and is covering his fifth book of mares at an increased fee of $55,000 (inc GST), having stood the 2023 season for a fee of $22,000 (inc GST).
The stallion’s other stakes winners are New Zealand-based duo Discretion Rules and Alabama Lass and latter could add more Group 1 glory to the sire’s record with the three-year-old mooted to take a shot at the New Zealand 1,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) at Riccarton a week on Saturday.
