VRC Oaks winner Treasurethe Moment stretches legs at Cranbourne

Treasurethe Moment took a significant step towards her next Group 1 target with a trial at Cranbourne on Monday. The Matt Laurie-trained filly, who last raced when winning the VRC Oaks at Flemington in November, had a quiet hitout in a 1000-metre trial won by dual Group 1 winner Magic Time.

The daughter of Alabama Express settled towards the rear and was the widest horse on the turn but finished strongly under minimal urging from jockey Damian Lane to place fifth, three lengths behind the winner. “I was happy with her,” Laurie said. “She was quicker away than some of the horses inside her, which is obviously a really good quality for a horse like her. She came back in behind them, followed them around, then Damian got her to the outside, and I thought her best work was late. The track was a little bit wet out there, a bit chopped up on the corner, which she might not have loved, but it improved up the straight according to Damian, so we thought it was quite a good effort.”

Treasurethe Moment extended her record to five wins from seven starts when she became the 39th filly to win the VRC Oaks after claiming the Group 2 Wakeful Stakes on Derby Day, having also won two races earlier in the spring.

She is expected to have another trial at Balnarring next week before two runs in Melbourne. Her campaign will then head to Sydney for the $750,000 Group 1 Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m) on March 29 and the $1 million Group 1 ATC Australian Oaks (2400m) a fortnight later.

“She’ll kick off in the Armanasco (Stakes), which is a seven-furlong race, and she’ll then go to the Kewney (Stakes), which is a mile at Flemington. I would think that would be a nice race for her at set weights,” Laurie said. “Then we’ll head up to Sydney and have a go at the Vinery and then the Oaks.”

The $300,000 Angus Armanasco Stakes (1400m) will be run at Caulfield on February 22, followed by the $300,000 Group 2 Kewney Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on March 8.