Treasurethe Moment will have a new jockey in the saddle when she contests the $2 million All-Star Mile at Flemington on March 7.
With regular rider Damian Lane serving a suspension that day, Racing.com has confirmed that Ben Melham will be taking the ride on the Matt Laurie trained four-year-old when she next faces the starter.
Melham partnered Streisand to victory in the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes last Saturday, the race in which Lane picked up a seventeen meeting suspension after pleading guilty to causing interference on his ride aboard Eternal Warrior when trying push out and find clear running after being held up in the straight.
Treasurethe Moment has been something of a treasure for the Laurie stable.
Her story can only be written because she survived some scary, life threatening moments when, as a yearling, she had to swim for her life when flood waters inundated a large portion of the Yulong Stud property at Mangalore, near Nagambie, in October 2022.
That she and so many other horses were saved was a minor miracle … a moment to treasure … and all of those involved in the massive rescue effort can really stand tall.
Now, three years and four months later, Treasurethe Moment is a ten-time winner with just under $4 million banked in prize-money.
Damian Lane has ridden Treasurethe Moment in seven of her ten victories.
Lane, in fact, has been the mare’s regular pilot since he first gained the ride on her on November 2, 2024. He has partnered the daughter of Alabama Express in eleven out of her twelve starts since that date, including in the hat trick of Group 1 wins when Treasurethe Moment landed the Vinery Stakes, the AJC Oaks and the Memsie in successive starts … and also in that tremendous third place finish when coming home only 1.60 lengths behind Via Sistina in the Cox Plate.
Lane will be missed in terms of the fact that his absence will take away the long established familiarity between horse and rider in the instance of the All-Star Mile where Melham will be riding Treasurethe Moment for the first time, but, in essence, it is one top tier rider replacing another with Melham sure to bring heaps of expertise to the ride.
The most critical factor of all will be Treasurethe Moment herself though, and she has already shown in no uncertain terms that, wherever she goes, she will be a real contender.