Treasurethe Moment
Yulong Stud triumphed on the weekend with four stakes winners including their homebred budding superstar Treasurethe Moment (Alabama Express) and two offspring of their evergreen super sire Written Tycoon (Iglesia) in Grand Prairie and Tycoon Star.
And some tried and true pedigree strategies lay behind all three.
Treasurethe Moment, who claimed her fourth elite success in breathtaking style in the Memsie Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) is the result of a rather simple strong bet in breeding these days – being out of a Street Cry (Machiavellian) mare.
In the early days of its empire-building, Yulong made a concerted move with bloodstock agent Michael Donohoe to buy Treasurethe Moment’s American dam Draconic Treasure as a yearling at Keeneland in 2016, for US$320,000.
She became a moderate performer, with one maiden win at Presque Isle Downs among nine starts, but through her star daughter she’s rewarding Yulong handsomely.
Draconic Treasure arrived in Australia in-foal to Frankel (Galileo) in 2018. The resultant filly never raced, and now has a yearling daughter by Yulong’s Grunt (O’Reilly). Repeating the Treasurethe Moment cross, she’s now in-foal to Alabama Express (Redoute’s Choice).
A second filly from Draconic Treasure, Mihoko Takeo (Grunt) also inspired no letters home, with two wins on the Devonport synthetic from 14 starts.
That pair’s half-sister, however, is doing Draconic Treasure proud, emerging as the undoubted star of Alabama Express’s four stakes winners, while no doubt adding to the regret that her dam died after just those three foals.
First, on the no-brainer of Street Cry mares. Winx’s dad has finished 11th, third and sixth on the Australian broodmare sires’ table in the past three completed seasons. Last term his best performing grandchild, by earnings, was not triple Group 1 winner Treasurethe Moment but All-Star Mile (Gr 1, 1600m) hero Tom Kitten (Harry Angel).
Street Cry now sits atop the broodmare sires’ table early in the current season, and if Tom Kitten hadn’t been scratched at the gates before the Memsie, might be further ahead of Fastnet Rock (Danehill) than he is.
Interestingly, former shuttler Street Cry has fared considerably better as a damsire in Australia than his home base of the US. That could be because he’s clicked so well with the comparatively huge proportion of stallions here with Danehill (Danzig) in their blood.
In the case of Treasurethe Moment, a first-crop daughter of Alabama Express, we see Street Cry blending with Danehill’s son Redoute’s Choice, the sire of Alabama Express. Timing hasn’t given us many foals by Redoute’s out of Street Cry mares, but three of the four have been winners.
Alabama Express over Street Cry is working well for itself, with seven winners – one at black type – from nine starters.
Going back a touch, Danehill over Street Cry’s sire Machiavellian (Mr Prospector) was breeding gold, with nine winners – four at stakes level – from ten runners.
Aside from the emerging no-brainer of Street Cry mares put to anything, Yulong CEO Sam Fairgray believes Treasurethe Moment’s pedigree is strongly powered by a triplication of the great Mr Prospector (Raise A Native), combining with the presence of Redoute’s Choice.
Mr. Prospector is at 6f x 4m, 6m. His daughter Rolls is the second dam of Alabama Express’s damsire Encosta De Lago (Fairy King) while in the bottom half he’s Street Cry’s grandsire and the sire of Gulch, Treasurethe Moment’s fourth damsire.
“Redoute’s and Mr. Prospector works very well,” said Fairgray, citing one example on the reverse cross in 2015 MRC Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Stay With Me (Street Cry), the only stakes winner out of champion mare Miss Finland (Redoute’s Choice), and one of her only two foals by Street Cry.
Treasurethe Moment also benefits from an all-time great breeding trick – having full brothers Fairy King (Northern Dancer) and Sadler’s Wells on either side of the midway line.
Fairy King flows into Alabama Express as sire of Encosta De Lago, and Sadler’s Wells goes strongly as Draconic Treasure’s second damsire.
Fairgray believes this combined with the Mr Prospector triplication works wonders, thanks to Northern Dancer being the sire of those two full brothers.
“Northern Dancer with Mr. P is a well-known cross that’s been fantastic, and it’s not too difficult to replicate,” Fairgray told It’s In The Blood.
“When there’s a double cross of Mr. P in pedigrees, it seems to work very well. Ideally, you want it going through a male and a female, but it appears that when you just double him up in a pedigree in any fashion it’s a very good cross, whether it’s gender-balanced, double male or double female.”
Northern Dancer underpins Treasurethe Moment’s pedigree, with eight mentions, five of which come in the first six generations. His blue hen dam Natalma (Native Dancer) also contributes strongly, with ten appearances, diversified through daughters Spring Adieu in the top half and Raise The Standard in the bottom.
One influential 1950s American mare, Flower Bowl (Alibhai), is doubled at 6m x 8m. Two outstanding full brothers are again in play in His Majesty (Ribot), Danehill’s damsire, and Graustark, sire of Treasurethe Moment’s fourth damsire.
Another such mare, Lalun (Djeddah), is repeated at 7m x 7m, 8m, 7m, through dual appearances of her most famous sons Bold Reason (Hail To Reason) and Never Bend (Nasrullah).
Stallions Nearco (Pharos) and Hyperion (Gainsborough) are all over Treasurethe Moment, each with 17 mentions from generations seven through nine.
As for Grand Prairie, who took Saturday’s Up And Coming Stakes (Gr 3, 1300m), and Tycoon Star, who claimed his second black type success in the McNeil Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m), the two three-year-olds profit from a golden rule with Written Tycoon: put him to fast mares.
Grand Prairie is the second foal and first stakes winner from Viddora (I Am Invincible), who won the 2018 edition of this weekend’s Moonee Valley feature, the Moir Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m), and Ascot’s Winterbottom Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m), and was second in two other elite sprints.
And Tycoon Star is from Miss Iano (Equiano), who won eight times, four in city class, from 1000 metres to 1200 metres.
“Written Tycoon seems to click very well with speed mares, and Viddora and Miss Iano were very fast mares,” said Fairgray. “He also works very well with Snitzel mares, because they’re generally speedy types.”
Fairgray believes Grand Prairie’s Written Tycoon over I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) blend “is going to be a very nice cross”. Thus far, it has five winners from six with one black type winner, plus Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) placegetter Kuroyanagi.
“And Written Tycoon over mares that carry Sir Tristram works well,” he said in a nod to Viddora, whose damsire Colombia was by Zabeel, by Sir Tristram (Sir Ivor).
While Yulong bred Grand Prairie, it bought Tycoon Star – bred by Iskander Racing – as a weanling, being enamoured enough by the colt and his pedigree to pay a hefty $350,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Weanling Sale in 2023.
Fairgray feels a triplication of US speed sire Try My Best (Northern Dancer) is a potent force behind Tycoon Star. He’s present at 4m x 6m, 5m. The bookends come through Last Tycoon, Written Tycoon’s grandsire, while in the middle it’s Waajib, Miss Iano’s fourth sire.
“There’s lots of Try My Best there, and that’s where Tycoon Star is picking up his genetic speed,” Fairgray said.
The gender-balanced double of Last Tycoon, coming in strong on the top and bottom lines at 3m x 4f, doesn’t hurt either. He’s the sire of Written Tycoon’s sire Iglesia, and of Miss Iano’s second dam.
“It’s interesting – you get some stallions who it definitely doesn’t work doubling up,” Fairgray said. “And everyone used to stay away from doubling Danehill, but now that’s got some quite good results.
“Last Tycoon is one where double ups work ok.”
So impressed were Yulong with Tycoon Star, two things happened.
When they sold him to Lindsay Park as a yearling at the Gold Coast for $400,000, they stayed in the ownership, hence he carries the green and white.
And three months later when Milburn Creek put Miss Iano up for sale, Yulong swooped there also, purchasing her for $310,000.
As a result, they now have a weanling full brother to Tycoon Star, while Miss Iano is carrying another full sibling.