A dominant spring that announced her arrival as one of Australia's top fillies has been turned into an autumn celebration of invincibility as Treasurethe Moment extended a winning sequence in the Group 1 Vinery Stud Stakes.
In collecting her seventh successive victory and her second at racing’s highest level, Treasurethe Moment confirmed her rating as Australia’s benchmark three-year-old filly.
And the first crop daughter of Alabama Express may well be one of the best seen for several decades as she bids for a treble of Group 1 wins that hasn’t been completed since the 2005/06 season when Serenade Rose won the VRC Oaks, the Vinery and the ATC Australian Oaks.
Treasurethe Moment is an odds-on favourite for the Oaks on April 12 with a warning from trainer Matt Laurie the Yulong filly promises to be an even more formidable opponent at Randwick.
"She'll learn a lot today,” he said.
“I think she got a little bit lost. She didn't have that trail. They spread out enough and she was sitting out on a limb with nothing really there to follow.
"She looked a little bit lost but when she got into it she was really good late, so she's only going to be better for the experience.”
On a track that received a minor upgrade from the heavy range during the day, Treasurethe Moment took up a forward position from the outset, settling in third under jockey Damian Lane.
As the leader Powers Of Opal came back to the field, Lane had Treasurethe Moment ready to issue a challenge and the filly responded, drawing clear to beat Benagil and Declichy Boulevard.
Laurie said all the hard work had been done to have Treasurethe Moment in peak condition for the Oaks.
“There's not much to do. You can see she's pretty lean. She keeps herself fit,” he said.
“She's fit as a fiddle, so we just tick her over. She's proven at that (Oaks) distance before, so hopefully it's a matter of turning up.”
Lane has been on Treasurethe Moment for her past five wins, confessing he was in the “right place at the right time” to pick up the prized ride during the Victorian spring carnival.
It’s been a dream association, made easier by Treasurethe Moment’s willingness to go with the flow in her races.
“You can just ride her uncomplicated,” Lane said.
“You just bounce from the barriers, and then you can work it out. You don't have to go, ‘what if this happens, what if that happens’, because she can adapt to all situations.
“It was a new challenge for her today - wet ground and (on her) Sydney leg - and she just handled it with ease. She's just a star filly."
Treasurethe Moment’s exploits have given her sire Alabama Express a promising start to his stud career at Yulong’s Victorian operation.
Alabama Express is also the sire of Alabama Lass, successful at Group 2 level in New Zealand before winning at Flemington last Saturday.
From 75 runners, the son of champion sire Redoute’s Choice has had 31 winners.
Incredibly, it is the 11th Group 1 win of the racing season in Yulong’s colours after what has been a dramatic week for the Zhang Yuesheng-led racing and breeding outfit after the departure of general manager Vin Cox.
