Trainers John Sargent and Gary Portelli are hopeful, rather than confident, that they can spring an upset when the outstanding Treasurethe Moment makes her Sydney debut in the 2,000-meter (about 1 1/4-mile) Vinery Stud Stakes (G1) March 29 at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse.
Sargent saddles Powers of Opal, who's already felt the sting of Treasurethe Moment's class when second to her in November's Wakeful Stakes (G2) and VRC Oaks (G1), by 1 3/4 and 1 1/4 lengths respectively.
Portelli brings a new challenger, the latest contender by burgeoning young sire Castelvecchio in Verona Rose, who, while costing a mere AU$40,000 at the 2023 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, steps up to group 1 company unbeaten in three starts, the latest being the Kembla Grange Classic (G3).
Neither trainer is underestimating the size of the task of toppling Yulong's Matt Laurie-trained filly.
Amid an exceptional crop of 3-year-old fillies—which also includes the unbeaten Autumn Glow, the 5-from-7 Lady Shenandoah, and the triple-winning Aeliana—Treasurethe Moment has become one of the most exciting horses of any description in the land.
The Yulong homebred has continued where she left off in the spring with two imperious victories over shorter trips this campaign, taking the Angus Armanasco Stakes (G2) by a length and Flemington's Kewney Stakes (G2) by 2 1/4 lengths. That's given the Victorian seven wins from nine starts, the last six in succession.
As with anyone taking on a horse of preeminence, all a trainer can do is show up and hope. Still, in terms of looking after his own backyard, Sargent is pleased with Powers of Opal after two runs back from a spell, over unsuitably short trips.
"I'm not running up the white flag, by any means," Sargent told ANZ Bloodstock News.
"She's come back bigger and stronger, and is just taking a shade longer to hit her form. It takes a bit more work to get her condition off. Now she's out to 2,000 meters, there shouldn't be any excuses."
While Powers of Opal has been exposed through 10 starts—for still only one win in a 1,600-meter Hawkesbury maiden—Portelli feels Verona Rose has something different on her side.
"If I was Matt Laurie, coming to Sydney and seeing this filly won at Kembla last start, you'd think 'How's this horse going to beat me?'" Portelli told ANZ.
"But the thing we have in our favor is we don't know where the ceiling is with Verona Rose."
Verona Rose has come from the back in her past two wins. Kerrin McEvoy partnered her for the first time when she came from what looked an impossible position on the turn to win a 1,350-meter Wyong handicap first-up two runs ago.
McEvoy locked in for her autumn campaign, and was aboard when Verona Rose swooped from 14th at the 400 meters to take the Kembla Classic by 0.2 lengths.
However, Portelli said circumstances had shunted Verona Rose to the back in those two runs, and that she had the versatility to be closer Saturday.
"The rain might come, and we've got to work out where we want to be, based on how the weather plays," said Portelli, whose filly won the Kembla Classic on a soft 5, and has handled a choppy soft 6 in a barrier trial.
"Her action looks conducive to handling bad tracks. She really gets down low and she really strides out, although you never know until you race on it."
Noting this would be Treasurethe Moment's first clockwise run, Portelli said he was cautiously optimistic his filly could spring an upset.
"It's a big ask to take on something that's pretty well unbeaten," he said. "But, sometimes they go the opposite direction and things can happen."
Laurie is unsure if Vinery Stud Stakes favorite Treasurethe Moment will handle a potentially wet track at Rosehill Saturday when the filly makes her Sydney debut.
"At some point you've got to know what they can and can't do,'' Laurie told Racing NSW. "If she doesn't handle it then so be it, you'd be thinking twice about running in an Oaks if it's similar. But these good horses can often do things they shouldn't, even when it comes to conditions.
"If we were running on a dry track this weekend we'd just be continuing on our merry way. It changes everything, not only do we have to handle going in a different direction we may have to line up on a pretty rain-affected track. That may allow the others to get into it a bit more."
Treasurethe Moment has been stationed at Randwick for the past week, and completed her build up with a gallop the morning of March 26. "I'm happy with how she's settled in, she's eating pretty well and (Damian Lane) came and gave her a nice gallop over the weekend,'' Laurie said.
"I'd done quite a few bits of work the reverse way in anticipation of coming up here early in the preparation. She always strikes off on her left leading leg every day without fail but she's learning to swap leads around the bend and she did that in the Saturday gallop. It seems to me you can give them plenty of practice and it doesn't always work but she's a good horse and I don't have an issue with it."
Dubai Honour Returns to Australia in Tancred
Globetrotting stayer Dubai Honour will be out to remain undefeated on Australian soil when he lines up in the Tancred Stakes (G1) at Rosehill Saturday. The 7-year-old gelding returns to Sydney for the first time in two years, having landed the 2023 Ranvet Stakes (G1) and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (G1), and handler Isabella Paul is confident the William Haggas trainee can continue his perfect strike rate.
"Dubai Honour has been around the world and back about twenty times so he's fairly cruisy," Paul said. "He seems to just take everything in his stride. He's probably a bit less naughty than he was as a younger horse, but he still can be pretty cheeky and it's great to see how fresh he comes off the flight now. When they're a bit younger they think about it a bit more and they stress about it, where for him it is fairly routine and he came off the flight absolutely bouncing."
Dubai Honour finished second in the Hong Kong Vase (G1) last time out Dec. 8, and heads to Saturday's 2,400-meter (about 1 1/2-mile) feature off the back of a three-month break, and Paul believes he can perform well first-up.
"He's in really, really good form," she said. "That run in Hong Kong was absolutely huge. He was a bit unlucky in the race and you thought he might have won and then you look at how unlucky the eventual winner actually was, Giavellotto, and you can't be upset. He is still proving himself. That was only a couple of months ago, so I think he can still perform at the top level despite being a 7-year-old."
The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott stable are confident Vauban can register a second Australian win when he tackles Saturday's Tancred. The gelding steps out to a more suitable distance, off the back of an impressive first up win in the Sky High Stakes (G3). With rain forecast and a wet track expected, Vauban, who has six wins and four placings from 12 starts on wet tracks, will be suited by the conditions.
"He's going to be better suited up to 2,400 meters and it's a bigger field than what we saw in the Sky High Stakes, so you'd naturally expect pressure in that sort of setup," Bott said. "There is also potential rain on the day. There are a lot of things that would seem a positive for him going into the race. There is nowhere to hide on Saturday. He's done really well in between runs and seems fantastic within himself. Hopefully there is some nice improvement to come."
Attrition Steps Up in Australian Cup
Mitch Freedman is confident his stable star Attrition will relish the step up in distance to 2,000 meters for the first time in his career when he contests a strong field in the Australian Cup (G1) at Flemington Racecourse Saturday.
"The race has built up nicely over the last month and it's going to be a good solid race," Freedman told RSN. "It should be a great spectacle. Deny Knowledge and Pride Of Jenni will be up the front making the running and it will be interesting to see what the rest of the field do."
The 5-year-old entire will be third-up going into Saturday's assignment and Freedman said he should be at his peak, after running second in the Blamey Stakes (G2) at Flemington last time out.
"We thought his fitness levels were pretty good coming out of the Blamey, so we've just kept him ticking over nicely," the Ballarat-based trainer said. "He's had a few grass gallops, and he's improved slightly and tightened up a bit, but we were pretty happy with where he is fitness wise, and we haven't had to do anything too extreme with him."
Attrition's preparation beyond Saturday will depend on his performance, with Freedman noting he had a demanding spring campaign with extensive travel and will need a break at some point.
"I am mindful after going to Perth off a longish spring that he hadn't had much time off, so we are keen to give him a bit of a break and relieve the pressure at some point," he said. "He does like being in work and he is showing no signs that he has had enough. We're just mindful of managing the horse, like how Chris Waller manages these types of horse and how he has them hanging around at the top level for a long time. That's always been our aim with him and the team at home have done a good job doing it."
