Treasury Devil puts John Gosden in profit
John Gosden’s yard, still warmed by the glow that comes from a Classic winner, showed that his two-year-olds are in hot form with a double at Sandown Park.
Following the victories of Arctic Cosmos in the St Leger on Saturday and Duncan in the Group Two Prix Foy at Longchamp the following day, Masked Marvel made a pleasing debut in the European Breeders' Fund Maiden Stakes but it was the victory of Treasury Devil (pictured centre) that had stable jockey William Buick smiling.
The colt, who won his maiden at Newbury last month, followed up in the Futurity Novice Stakes to beat Introvert, an 84-rated runner form Godolphin, by two-and-a-half lengths. He looks well worth his entry fee for the Group One Racing Post, at Doncaster next month, even if no-one thought he was worth buying when he went through the sales ring at Saratoga last year.
The colt runs in the colours of Lord and Lady Lloyd-Webber, who bred him at their Watership Down Stud, but he did not meet the $1million reserve they put on the son of Bernardini when he went to the sales. So far there are no regrets as Lady Lloyd-Webber explained. “We always valued him very highly and it’s just very rare that you do make that decision and they come out and win their first two. So it’s a very exciting prospect for next year,” she said, adding “it’s going to be a long winter.
“We’re a commercial stud and we nearly always sell our colts, so we don’t have to make any decisions, so this is a one-off for us. We always value you them and, if they don’t make the value we put on them, we bring them home. Nine times out of 10 they do make their value; this one didn’t thank goodness.”
The value of Alfa Beat continues to climb as he won his fifth consecutive race in the Guinness Kerry National at Listowel.
The six-year-old, trained by Charles Byrnes, began his winning run at Roscommon in June and has gone up 45lbs in the ratings, with a 17lb hike for his last win at Galway in August. But that was not enough to stop him as he beat the well-supported Dancing Tornado by three-and-a-quarter lengths, with Finger On the Pulse a head away in third.
Tony McCoy had the choice between the second and third and could well have given the winner more of a race but for Dancing Tornado making several mistakes, but winning jockey Barry Geraghty also thought that Alfa Beat would be better on faster ground.
“Early in the race he was just struggling with the ground but the further he went the more he warmed up. When I got to the fourth-last, the first time round, and I was going nowhere on the ground so I just took a chance to pull out on the better ground. And as soon as he got out on it I could feel him travel better,” Geraghty said. “He’s only six and the way he did it you couldn’t knock him - he was dead game.”
Alfa Beat is still in his novice season and Byrne is considering him as a prospect for the National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March.
“He’d be a great ride for some amateur,” Geraghty said, with just a touch of envy. “A race like that would be ideal for him and he has loads of options.”
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