\n\t\t\t\t\tBy Trevor Marshallsea\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Listen<\/p>\n
Matt Laurie is confident that doubting punters will see the real Treasurethe Moment (Alabama Express) when she strives to win him his first major in Saturday\u2019s Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) at Moonee Valley.<\/p>\n
Treasurethe Moment \u2013 the Yulong homebred the sales companies didn\u2019t want \u2013 became a sensation of last season but has been one of the stories of the spring, and only 25-75 for the right reasons.<\/p>\n
The four-year-old resumed taking on open class for the first time in Caulfield\u2019s Memsie Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) and produced a simply awesome display to lead home a nine-runner field by 2.5 lengths. Ten-time elite-level winner Mr Brightside (Bullbars) was second, with Buckaroo (Fastnet Rock) a further half\u2013length away in third.<\/p>\n
The spring looked her oyster after that ninth straight success and fourth Group 1, but the script has gone awry since.<\/p>\n
She made headlines only a week later when she suffered a bout of colic, which required veterinary hospital treatment, and put her out of the Makybe Diva Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) on September 13.<\/p>\n
The mare returned for her first look at Moonee Valley on the night of September 26 in the Feehan Stakes (Gr 2, 1600m). The $1.50 chance encountered only five rivals, perhaps scaring many away, but with Pride Of Jenni (Pride Of Dubai) allowed to execute her long-leading ways as she liked, Treasurethe Moment could only make minimal ground on that mare, in a 1.75 length second.<\/p>\n
Only three rivals fronted up for Caulfield\u2019s Might And Power (Gr 1, 2000m) to take on Laurie\u2019s $1.60 favourite. But with Blake Shinn allowed to dictate a dawdling pace on Globe (Charm Spirit), that seven-year-old gelding stole the race, with Treasurethe Moment running a three-length second.<\/p>\n
Those two runs might now have scared off punters, and Treasurethe Moment has slipped down the betting charts for the Cox Plate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ahead of Tuesday\u2019s barrier draw, she was on the fourth line of betting at $8, behind last year\u2019s demoralising winner and Yulong teammate Via Sistina (Fastnet Rock) at $2, Tony Gollan\u2019s Antino (Redwood) at $3.50, and Via Sistina\u2019s Chris Waller-trained stablemate Aeliana (Castelvecchio) at $6.<\/p>\n
Still, Laurie wasn\u2019t overly disappointed with his mare\u2019s latest two runs, and he feels that in a larger \u2013 though non-capacity \u2013 field with likely some more pace on, and with the effects of that colic bout now seemingly completely overcome, Treasurethe Moment will take a lot of beating.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re right in it with a chance,\u201d Laurie told ANZ News.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe kicked off the prep with a bang, then had a hiccup, and then we\u2019ve had to make our way back through two very small fields that have been on-pace dominated and with very little pressure applied to the leaders.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s been a bit hard to fully assess, but all I can say is she\u2019s come through this last race well. The Cox Plate is the best race in the hemisphere, and I can\u2019t find a reason not to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laurie said it had been difficult to gauge how much the mild colic bout had taken out of Treasurethe Moment, but indicated it needed to be taken into account when analysing her subsequent beaten runs.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019d had a month between the Memsie and the Feehan, and of that month there was probably a week where she wasn\u2019t doing anything,\u201d the trainer said of Treasurethe Moment, the November 1 foal who was kept to race by breeders Yulong after not making it into a sale for either Inglis or Magic Millions.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe noticeably blew out a bit in that run against Pride Of Jenni.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was then bumped up to 2000 metres two weeks later, and it probably wasn\u2019t run really to suit. There wasn\u2019t much pressure applied to the leader, Globe, and he duly got away on us.\u201d<\/p>\n
With horses usually taking huge benefit from their first to their second attempt at the testing 2000-metre trip in a campaign, Laurie expects Treasurethe Moment to be a more formidable force this Saturday.<\/p>\n
Aside from that, he\u2019s encouraged by the formlines around her.<\/p>\n
Since the Memsie, Mr Brightside has won the Makybe Diva Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) \u2013 beating Aeliana and Via Sistina into the minors \u2013 and run second in the King Charles III Stakes (Gr 1, 1609m).<\/p>\n
Buckaroo has run Sir Delius (Frankel) to a 0.46 length second in the Underwood Stakes (Gr 1, 1800m), before finishing third in the Might And Power, 0.75 lengths behind Treasurethe Moment.<\/p>\n
After the Underwood, Sir Delius cruised to a 1.75 length victory in the Turnbull Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m), beating Antino into second and with Via Sistina a 2.2 length third. Sir Delius was then a short favourite for the Cox Plate before being ruled out by Racing Victoria vets.<\/p>\n
\u201cTreasure obviously hasn\u2019t won her past two starts,\u201d Laurie said, \u201cbut she hasn\u2019t been passed, either.<\/p>\n
\u201cBuckaroo came out after the Memsie and wasn\u2019t beaten far by Sir Delius, who would\u2019ve been favourite for the Cox Plate. Mr Brightside beat Aeliana and Via Sistina home after we beat him.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you\u2019d be hard pressed to argue that Treasure hasn\u2019t got some sort of chance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if Treasurethe Moment was back at her best, Laurie said: \u201cWe\u2019ll know that after the race.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if she was in top health, Laurie sounded assured.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer data is good on the equimetre. Her blood\u2019s back where it really needed to be. So we\u2019re very happy with the horse,\u201d Laurie said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to know how much the colic took out of her, because it\u2019s internal. But she\u2019d kicked off the prep with a bang, and we were in a good place for the Makybe until the colic happened.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like she\u2019s caught up a little bit as far as fitness goes now. She looks like she\u2019s improved off her last run, and I\u2019m more than happy to run her this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laurie ensured Treasurethe Moment would be at her top for the Cox Plate through a testing 1400-metre track gallop at home at Mornington last Friday. He said she would have a \u201ctick over\u201d gallop, also at Mornington, on Tuesday, rather than be taken into town for the breakfast trackwork and barrier trial function at Moonee Valley.<\/p>\n
With the track set for its major redevelopment, this will be the last Cox Plate at Moonee Valley as we know it, with its often tricky, tight contours. Laurie said he was satisfied they posed no problems for his mare, whose four Group 1 wins have come between 1400 metres and 2400 metres.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought she raced fine on it at her only attempt in the Feehan,\u201d he said. \u201cPlus, Mornington\u2019s a similar shaped track and she\u2019s fine there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Australasia\u2019s classiest race is likely to have less than its capacity field of 14, with an expected line-up of around ten runners. Other contenders are set to include Globe, Buckaroo, and Waller\u2019s Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Autumn Boy (The Autumn Sun) \u2013 in on the three-year-old males\u2019 weight of 49.5 kilograms for Australasia\u2019s weight-for-age championship.<\/p>\n
Although she won last year\u2019s Cox Plate in a phenomenal record time \u2013 crushing Winx\u2019s 2:02.94 with a sizzling 2:01.07 \u2013 and by an equal-record margin of eight lengths, Via Sistina is another Yulong mare who\u2019s been under a cloud.<\/p>\n
Her spring pattern rings similar to Treasurethe Moment\u2019s.<\/p>\n
The reigning Horse of the Year resumed as an eight-year-old with a top-tier victory in the Winx Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) at Randwick, but has managed only thirds in her two subsequent runs, in the Makybe Diva and the Turnbull.<\/p>\n
Laurie still has ample respect for the Irish-bred import, who\u2019s now officially eight in Australia but still seven-and-a-half biologically, but the trainer \u2013 whose medium-sized stable is flying with five winners from its past 17 runners at 29 per cent \u2013 wouldn\u2019t swap his mare for any Cox Plate rival as he strives for his eighth Group 1 win and a first major that would boost his operation greatly.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s come tantalisingly close in the recent past, when Coleman (Pierata) ran a 0.14 length second in last year\u2019s Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m), to Lady Of Camelot (Written Tycoon).<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat Chris [Waller] has achieved with Via Sistina is pretty amazing,\u201d Laurie said. \u201cBut what Treasure\u2019s achieved is pretty good too.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not worried about lining up against any of them on Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Trevor Marshallsea Listen Matt Laurie is confident that doubting punters will see the real Treasurethe Moment (Alabama…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213729,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[3004,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-213728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-racing","tag-racing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}