By Trevor Marshallsea

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Racing fans are in for a mouth-watering, green and white, three-round spring blockbuster as Yulong’s star mares Via Sistina (Fastnet Rock) and Treasurethe Moment (Alabama Express) set out on triple-leg collision course.

As the Australian racing scene caught its breath after Treasurethe Moment’s stunning Memsie Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) triumph on Saturday, the major question arising was whether Zhang Yueshang’s empire might strive to avoid clashes between the four-year-old and Via Sistina.

But Yulong CEO Sam Fairgray said such a dodging and weaving strategy was not on the cards, confirming the Matt Laurie-trained Treasurethe Moment and Chris Waller’s champion mare would likely be thrown in against each other in their three remaining spring Group 1 targets.

Treasurethe Moment—the Yulong homebred who was unwanted by yearling sales companies but showed superstar potential in her first weight-for-age test on Saturday—and British import and new Horse of the Year Via Sistina are set for their first bout in Flemington’s Makybe Diva Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) on September 13.

Next will come two races in which Via Sistina is the reigning champion: the set-weights and penalties Turnbull Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m), also at Flemington on October 4, and the grand final of the Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) on October 25—the last edition of the great race on its current famed circuit before Moonee Valley’s reconfiguration.

Beyond that, Fairgray also forecast international assignments for Treasurethe Moment, with possibilities such as the Hong Kong Cup (Gr 1, 2000m) on December 14, and a mission to Royal Ascot next year, where the carnival-launching Queen Anne Stakes (Gr 1, 1m) awaits.

But for now, Australian fans can strap themselves in for a heady spring of battles between the two mares, who were both nominees for the Horse of the Year award on Sunday night, with Via Sistina prevailing as widely expected.

“It’s an interesting one,” Fairgray told ANZ News.

“Mr Zhang would like to keep them apart if possible, but the reality is they’re two good mares, they’ve got different trainers, and the trainers need to do what they think is right by the horse.”

Fairgray said Treasurethe Moment’s wins in the VRC Oaks (Gr 1, 2500m) and ATC Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) might portend suitability for the Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m). But, he said her electrifying win over 1400 metres on Saturday, bursting through a narrow gap at the 250 metres with a fearsome turn of speed, instead brought to mind The Valley’s $6 million feature, which Via Sistina won last year with a record time and equal record margin of eight lengths.

“We’ll consider the Caulfield Cup for Treasure,” he said, “but on Saturday, she showed such brilliance. She is proven over the distance of the Caulfield Cup, but she was so brilliant in the Memsie that it does lead to the idea that the Cox Plate would be the ideal race for her.

“So she’ll go Makybe-Turnbull-Cox Plate. And Via Sistina, at the moment she’s on the same path.”

Fairgray did, however, allow for the possibility that wet weather could interrupt the mares’ envisaged three-race battle.

While Via Sistina resumed nine days ago with a Winx Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) victory on a Heavy 10, Fairgray said she was less suited on a more “slippery” surface, as illustrated in her fifth on a Heavy 9 in last year’s Makybe Diva. Treasurethe Moment is untried on heavy, but won the Vinery Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) on a Soft 7.

With her ninth straight win and her fourth Group 1 on Saturday, Treasurethe Moment put her name alongside three of the great mares of this century who’d also resumed with Memsie wins: Atlantic Jewel (Fastnet Rock) in 2013, Miss Finland (Redoute’s Choice) in 2007, and the legendary Makybe Diva (Desert King) in 2005.

Makybe Diva won the Cox Plate that spring before taking her unprecedented third Melbourne Cup, as a seven-year-old.

But Fairgray effectively ruled out a Melbourne Cup bid for the four-year-old Treasurethe Moment.

“I wouldn’t think that’s likely,” he said. “It’s a race that’s very tough on horses, and she could have two or three more seasons of racing in her. She’s only going to get better as she gets older. So I think the Melbourne Cup would be a longshot.

“But Treasurethe Moment is a mare who travels very well, so there may be options like Hong Kong and Europe for her.

“Hong Kong would be an option for their December international meeting, and Royal Ascot’s a possibility for next year or the year after. That’s something that if everything is going in the right direction for her, then it’s something Mr Zhang would definitely want to look at.

“There’s plenty of options for her there, probably a mile race like the Queen Anne.”

Fairgray said Treasurethe Moment had pulled up well from the Memsie, in which she outclassed eight rivals including seven Group 1 winners, with nine-time top tier hero Mr Brightside (Bullbars) finishing 2.5 lengths behind her in second.

“She’s pulled up very well. She ate up most of her feed and Matt was happy with her this morning,” Fairgray said on Sunday.

“She’s just such an athlete that she doesn’t appear to take too much out of it, so that’s good.

“It was a fantastic win. When they’re jumping from three to four, you’re never sure if they’re going to take that next step. But she had furnished a lot from her spell, and strengthened, and [regular rider] Damian Lane said she feels sharper for it too.”

And like most who saw the Memsie, the Yulong CEO said racing fans could be watching a special career evolve.

“Definitely so,” he said. “What she’s achieved so far is quite outstanding. When you look back on history, horses who’ve been able to win two Oaks in the spring and autumn, and then to come back and win at weight-for-age at their first start as a four-year-old…it’s a pretty special achievement.

“And she’s not actually four until November 1. She’s still technically a three-year-old, so what she is doing is quite brilliant, especially with 56.5kgs against that field on Saturday.”

In the other green and white corner, however, looms Via Sistina. While Fairgray said the seven-year-old was too old to consider a Royal Ascot mission next year, she showed she had come back in fine order with her Winx victory—her seventh elite success in eight starts, and her tenth from 25 starts overall.

And on an almost scary note, Fairgray said the Irish-born mare was looking more formidable than in her previous three Australian campaigns.

“It’s taken her a while to really acclimatise, but she’s acclimatised this prep,” he said. “She’s better looking than last spring.

“She looks better in the coat, and looks stronger. She’s come back really well. I think we just keep her on the path here, rather than think about overseas. It’d be fantastic for her to win the final Cox Plate before Moonee Valley’s redevelopment.”

The TAB still have Via Sistina a clear favourite for all three legs of their possible spring meetings. For the Makybe Diva, they’re at $2.20 and $4.50. In the Turnbull they’re $1.80 and $6—with Aeliana (Castelvecchio) at $5. And in the Cox Plate they’re the top two in betting at $2.20 and $6, with Aeliana $9.

Treasurethe Moment’s relatively late birth was one reason behind what may in time prove to be one of the most remarkable quirks to a remarkable career. Both major sales houses, Inglis and Magic Millions, inspected her as a yearling, but she didn’t make it into either one’s sales.

Apart from her birthdate, Fairgray believes the young filly’s sale appeal was hindered by the fact she was by Yulong’s then unproven first-season sire Alabama Express (Redoute’s Choice), and out of a maiden-winning American mare in Draconic Treasure (Street Cry).

“The sales companies didn’t fancy her. They can’t take them all, fortunately for us,” Fairgray said.

“She’d been a later foal, and while her dam was good looking, she wasn’t a fantastic performer on the track. And the companies have got to see how many yearlings by a certain stallion they’re taking into their sale, and they probably rated other Alabama Express horses higher.”

Two years later, some other assessors might have been less than impressed with Treasurethe Moment’s ATC Oaks victory. While it capped eight straight wins, the fact she scored by just 0.4 lengths as a $1.55 favourite over $51 bolter Sun ’N’ Sand (Pride Of Dubai) will have left many punters questioning her claims to stardom.

Her connections, in contrast, saw it very differently.

“It was all about the way the race was run. They didn’t go overly quick so it made it very hard for horses to make up ground,” Fairgray said, with Treasurethe Moment having travelled fourth of nine as Sun ’N’ Sand set a leisurely pace, before attacking the line in the last 50 metres to haul her in.

“She had to really dig in at the 100-metre mark, and she showed great tenacity to pick them up and win. It’s the sign of a very, very good horse, considering the way the race was run, and we were just as happy with that win as any that came before.

“She just seems to do everything right in her races. She relaxes, she puts herself in a good spot. She and Damian seem to click very well.

“When they’ve got the temperament that she’s got and do everything so effortlessly, then who knows what could happen? It opens up that going forward she could do anything and be anything.”

Yulong’s abundance of riches was illustrated by not just Treasurethe Moment but three other stakes winners on Saturday.

Earlier at Caulfield, Team Hayes’s Tycoon Star (Written Tycoon) won the McNeil Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m), while the Grahame Begg-trained Magic Time (Hellbent) also carried the green and white to victory in the Cockram Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m), beating into second a horse Yulong part-owns in Miss Roumbini (Zoustar).

At Rosehill, Peter Snowden’s Grand Prairie (Written Tycoon) took the Up And Coming Stakes (Gr 3, 1300m). The son of dual Group 1 winner Viddora (I Am Invincible), who Yulong bought as a broodmare for $2.55 million, now has two wins from his past four starts.

Also at Rosehill, Alabama Express had more success when first-cropper Sunshine Law claimed a 1500-metre Benchmark 78, her second win in three starts this season.

Alabama Express will on Monday start covering his sixth book at $66,000 (inc GST), up from $55,000 last season, when he served 241 mares.

Fairgray said the nine-year-old’s book would be closer to 180 mares this season, at his higher price.

“We’re very happy with how he’s going. He’s only a young stallion, and he’s got it all before him,” Fairgray said.

“With the types he leaves, you can really send any mare to him. He throws the quality into them, he can put size into them, or with a big mare he brings the progeny back to a neat size and physique.

“Obviously, to get a filly like Treasurethe Moment in your first crop is outstanding for any stallion. But there’s not only her—Alabama Lass is coming over for the Moir.”

Alabama Express has four stakes winners from 100 runners worldwide, with his second-ranking performer being Alabama Lass, winner of three Group races in New Zealand and in Listed class at Flemington.

A winner of the CF Orr Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) and only one other black type race in Listed company, Alabama Express is building a head of steam as a stallion.

He finished fourth on the second season sires’ table last term, behind Too Darn Hot (Dubawi), Blue Point (Shamardal) and Castelvecchio (Dundeel).

He was equal-fourth by stakes winners, with three in Treasurethe Moment, Alabama Lass and Glasgow Lass. He ranked third by black type wins, with eight, and sixth by winners, with 39 from 90 starters.

Alabama Express ranked eighth among three-year-old sires by earnings, and improved with his limited numbers to finish a creditable 50th on the general sires’ table.