Crusader Unmasks Rivals at The Valley

Nobody has ever really doubted the ability of boom sprinter Masked Crusader (Toronado-She’s Got Gears, by Invincible Spirit). The 4YO gelding has been on the radar since his tardy debut where the $2.25 starting price at Wyong was a harbinger of his ability. A hattrick of wins thereafter quickly franked the rumour mill, and now six starts later he’s a Group 1 winner, albeit given a huge helping hand by gifted Perth sojourner William Pike in his sole ride at Moonee Valley. Announcing himself as the new kid on the block of the Australian sprinting ranks with a dominant victory in Friday evening’s Gr1 William Reid Stakes (1200m), Inglis Premier-sold rising superstar Masked Crusader’s maiden elite victory came off the back after an unlucky third placing in the Gr1 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) a fortnight earlier; in the Randwick event, the son of popular Swettenham Stud shuttler Toronado (High Chaparral) had put the writing on the wall with a barnstorming effort to come from back in the field to finish a close third at his first Group 1 WFA attempt. Bred by Gilgai Farm - who retained a share in the explosive galloper - Masked Crusader sold to Hawkes Racing and Cameron Cooke Bloodstock for $340,000 at the Premier Yearling Sale. Now the winner of almost $600,000, Masked Crusader will now likely head back to Sydney for the Gr1 TJ Smith Stakes at Randwick on the new date of April 10, before possibly then contesting the Gr1 All Aged Stakes at Randwick a fortnight later.