Masked Crusader has long threatened to win at Gr1 level and he did so in devastating fashion in Friday night’s William Reid Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley.
Masked Crusader won comfortably in the end however, he needed to be brave, pushing through between longtime leader Pippie and last start Gr1 winner Portland Sky into the home straight and then bursting clear to score his fifth win from 10 starts for the Hawkes Racing-trained sprinter, previously a Gr2 winner and Gr1-placed after being slowly away and smothered away along the inside.
Jockey Willie Pike said he was forced to ride for luck after Masked Crusader stepped slow.
“I suppose at that stage (three back on the fence) I’d given up on pushing out and making a really clever move and I’d missed the boat on any track-ups that were happening so I just had to sit there and wait,” Pike said.
“I had plenty of luck on the night but I suppose that was the only way we could win with the way it unfolded.
“I definitely didn’t expect that brilliant turn of foot and it’s really what won us the race.
When I said go, he went and he didn’t care about taking a tight run. He let down that fast, I was out before they knew I was there.”
Inbred 3×4 to brothers Sadler’s Wells and Fairy King, he is the first Gr1 winner for Toronado (High Chaparral) who has shown an affinity with Danehill-line mares with stakes winners Still A Star, Shelby Cobra, Solaia, Stone Tornado and Wasmya bred this way.
Queen Anne Stakes winner Toronado shuttles between the Haras de Bouquetot in France and Swettenham Stud in Victoria where he was advertised at $27,500 last season and covering 210 mares..
Masked Crusader is a half-brother to two winners as well as Outlaw Kate (Exceed And Excel), placed at two in New Zealand including third in the LR Welcome Stakes at Riccarton.
Their dam She’s Got Gears (Invincible Spirit) won the LR Ottawa Stakes at Flemington at two and runner-up in the Gr3 Blue Diamond Prelude at Caulfield.
The third-dam Rothchild (Last Tycoon) is a half-sister to Adelaide Listed winner Jaraab (Whiskey Road) while Masked Crusader’s dam Rosalba (Court Martial) won the Queen Elizabeth II and Coronation Stakes.