MyRacehorse

#1 Treasurethe Moment (9)

Starting with the class runner of the field, Treasurethe Moment. She was a very impressive and soft winner of the Group 2 Armanasco over 1400m first up, hitting the line under a hold and beating key rivals Too Darn Lizzie and Jenni The Fox quite comfortably. She is obviously the one to beat and is a Group 1 Winner, Yulong are flying. But, she does draw barrier 9, which greys me up a little bit from a map perspective. Her record speaks for itself. 8 starts for 6 wins and 2 seconds is remarkable. The 1600m at Flemington can make it hard for a horse that has drawn wide to get into a good spot. Too Darn Lizzie and London’s Image are two that have drawn inside and will push forward making it interesting to see where Treasurethe Moment will land, she might get caught in an awkward 3 wide position around the bend, which would make this race very interesting! Overall, she is clearly the one to beat come Saturday

In the preview of the Desirable Stakes we did say that Another Prophet would benefit from a rise in trip at her next start, and she gets to her Group 1 winning distance of 1600m here. However, she was a bit plain in the Desirable, but I could be forgiving of certain horses within that field who didn’t get cover. Another Prophet did get cover in the 1-1 and Captured By Love faced the wind, so I’m therefore not willing to be as forgiving of her. I thought another prophet was strong in her first-up run at Sandown in the Group 3 Manfred stakes over 1200, a distance that she wasn’t meant to be competitive in, yet she finished 1.11 lengths of Royal Insignia who is being touted as a promising sprinter. I think we will see enough of an improvement to see her be competitive, she moves up to the 1600m, a distance that she enjoys, placing 2nd in the Group 3 Carbine Club at Flemington last Spring before taking out the Thousand Guineas two weeks later. I don’t think she will win, but I think she’ll improve. She will also appreciate the track being dry, as she doesn’t appreciate those with give based on her results.

Captured by Love jumps from barrier 1 with Jamie Melham on and will be one of the speed influencers in the race. I wanted to be forgiving of her run in Australia given the shocking conditions at Flemington in the Desirable and how disadvantaged horses without cover were. She is a group 1 winner in New Zealand over 1600m in their Thousand Guineas, beating Alabama Lass. She also holds Australian form from her start in a Group 2 Memorial Plate where she finished 3rd, 2.3 lengths off Australian Guineas runner-up Savaglee. Mark Walker runs a tight ship at his Cranbourne base and I would not be surprised if we saw her bounce back, therefore I have her as a key contender.

One of the weirdest placements of a filly I have seen. On a quick back up after running 3rd to Brudenell at The Valley on Friday night and now goes 1200m to 1600m. I think there’s a chance that she may not even run in this field. I am surprised to see that this horse is in the market. She’s had one run over 1600m in the WA Guineas where she finished 5th, She ran well at Moonee Valley last Friday in a listed race, finishing 1.1 lengths off Brudenel. I’m not sure how she will respond to the quick back-up and I just don’t think she is in the same class as some of these other fillies. I have her representing the “unders” in the current market.

Sneaky Sunrise heads back to the races after her very sharp first up placing in the Desirable Stakes. She was off over 220 days that day and still flew fresh, which gives me confidence that she has come back in terrific order. She’s only had the one go at 1600m, which does pose a slight query, however, I think she is ready to prove herself to the racing world on Saturday. You could argue that she was a little unlucky not to finish even closer last start, given that she was slightly tightened for room when hitting the line, and took some time to get clear running in the straight. She maps to get a beautiful run just off the speed, with a lot of horses wanting to roll forward. Ben Hayes mentioned after her first up run that she would improve after her fresh run, therefore, she must go in selections as a genuine E/W chance.

Graeme Begg has a nice filly in his hands with Cilicap. She has jumped into the limelight only breaking her maiden 3 starts ago. She went into the desirable first-up and looked exceptional. She is hard to fault but jumping from barrier 10 will not help her. I do think that if there was another 200m in her last start she would’ve been beaten. Overall, she must be respected as a key contender in this market based on her new peak figure in the Desirable, and she will likely get quite a similar run in transit this time in with a lot of speed.

Jenni The Fox was very impressive last start in Group 2 Armanasco where she finished 1 length behind favourite Treasurethe Moment. She’s by Too Darn Hot out of a Fastnet Rock mare, so she should be able to run out the trip and will likely relish the rise to 1600m. I just need to see another good run from her against a field of this quality before I can back her. She’s a very progressive filly with plenty of upside, and she finished in front of Group 1 placed, Too Darn Lizzie last start, who she meets again here. She probably had favours in transit last start, taking the “quickest way home” along the rail when other horses panned out wider.

Support Sneaky Sunrise in style this Saturday!

Too Darn Lizzie has been an honest horse for Gai and Adrian, placing in 4 of her last 5 starts all bar 1 at the Group level, including a 3rd in the Thousand Guineas behind Another Prophet. She finished in third last start, 2.75 lengths behind Treasurethe Moment and 1.75 off Jenni The Fox. From barrier 2 she will likely roll forward to sit in the lead with London’s Image outside. My only query with her is her ability to run out a strong mile with a stack of speed and genuine Group 1 milers in this field. I personally feel that she is better suited at 1400m, but nonetheless I am respecting her as a rough chance in the race.

Princess Montecito comes to Group 2 level after winning a Class 1 at The Valley 3 weeks ago by almost 5 lengths. That margin must be delved into though, as she was heavily advantaged by the leaders’ bias at Moonee Valley that night. Therefore, I don’t think she has the class that the winning margin may suggest. However, the Moody Coleman yard rarely place their horses in races they don’t think they can be competitive in. But, I’m happy to leave her out of selections this time in.

She Nailed It ran in the Desirable Stakes, where she was beaten by almost 9 lengths. She is the only horse to have had another run since then, placing in a BM64 at Sandown 10 days after the Desirable. Based on her recent racing, I couldn’t have her in selections and feel that there are horses with more class in this field.