Blue Diamond Stakes Day 2019

I Am Immortal – Blue Diamond Preview

Saturday’s racing at Caulfield features the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes as well as two other Group 1 races – Futurity Stakes and Oakleigh Plate.

I first attended the Blue Diamond Stakes back in 2012. I remember the day as being a hot 40° C and that the Blue Diamond winner was Samaready.

This Saturday the weather is forecast to be in the mid 20s and sunny, a perfect for a day at the races.

So who will win the Blue Diamond Stakes?

Having watched all the build up races, several stand out as likely chances; colt I Am Immortal, and fillies Catch Me, Brooklyn Hustle, Lyre and Loving Gaby who was the early race favourite. It being a race for two year olds anything could happen, so one of the other four colts or five fillies could steal the show.

The first of the Group 1 races scheduled to run is the Futurity Stakes, a race over 1400 metres, comprising the usual suspects such as Hartnell, Redkirk Warrior, Land of Plenty, Le Romain and Brave Smash. Early favourite is Sydney mare Alizee who started her Autumn with an impressive win in the Group 2 Expressway Stakes. She is also favourite for the All Star Mile, the new race on the block that will be run on the 16th March at Flemington.

Also in the Futurity picture is Orr Stakes winner Manuel and talented three year old Ringerdingding.

Speedster Nature Strip takes on a huge field in the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate that include such talented sprinters as Viddora, Eduardo and Booker.  Nature Strip looks the logical pick and should win if he has recovered from his dazzling win in the Rubiton Stakes a fortnight ago.

I intend to get to the track around 1.30 pm. Fortunately trains will be running as normal.

The Blue Diamond Stakes Comes Around Again

Catchy  - 2017 Blue Diamond Favourite

This coming Saturday will be the sixth time I’ve been to the Blue Diamond Stakes Day at Caulfield.

Samaready won the Blue Diamond back in 2012 where I recall the temperature being 40°C . She went on to win several other Group  races, most notably the 2013 Moir Stakes.

The most memorable Blue Diamond Stakes was the 2013 edition where fairy tale filly Miracles of Life romped in and everyone got very emotional.

Last year the two Mick Price colts Extreme Choice and Flying Artie ran the quinella.

This year’s field contains ten colts/geldings and six fillies.

Having watched most of the build up races I reckon the best chances are colts Property, Jukebox and Pariah and fillies Catchy, Tulip, Formality and Blondie. It being a mad two year old race over 1200 metres, run at speed, anything could happen, but I wouldn’t be surprised if one or more of the abovementioned were in the finish.

As well as the Blue Diamond Stakes, there are two other Group 1 races, the Futurity Stakes over 1400 metres and the Oakleigh Plate, a sprint over 1100 metres.

The Futurity is the first of the Group 1 races on the program, run as Race 5 and has a small field of nine runners. Black Heart Bart is naturally the top pick and short priced favourite.  He narrowly beat Turn Me Loose in the Orr Stakes who may be able to turn the tables on him this time.  Turn Me Loose is a particular favourite of mine, a really pretty young stallion who has been specifically aimed at this race, which he won last year.

Others likely to be in or close to the finish are Lucky Hussler,  Palentino and former Japanese horse Tosen Stardom.

A huge field has accepted for the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate, 18 in all. The interesting runners are Extreme Choice, Fell Swoop, Sheidel,
I Am A Star and Wild Rain.

The support card at Caulfield is also worth the price of entry, with two Group 3, and three Group 2 races.  I’m looking forward to seeing Jameka again, who is running in the Group 2 Peter Young Stakes.

In Sydney at Randwick, the wonderful Winx will be aiming to win her 15th race in succession in the Group 1 Chipping Norton Stakes. Most of her rivals are resuming stayers along with long time rival Hartnell who is yet to get the better of her.  Here’s hoping she keeps her winning sequence intact.

Sunny Melbourne, Rainy Sydney

Sertorius – winner of the Easter Cup – in his stall

Sydney experienced a downpour on Saturday that resulted in the cancellation (or postponement) of the Group 1 race meeting at Randwick. It is being run today instead.

By contrast, Melbourne on Saturday was mild and sunny and the track at Caulfield was good and speedy.  It was perfect weather for spending an afternoon trackside, despite the hordes of children in attendance hyped to eyeballs by chocolate treats. There was even an Easter egg hunt for the junior racegoers.

I took my time getting to Caulfield as the races I was most interested in watching were scheduled for mid to late afternoon. So I arrived just after 2.00pm in time for race 4, the Jack Elliott Handicap, an open race over 1400 metres. It was won by Bel Rhythm.

Race 4 – down the straight – Bel Rhythm (no. 8) is about to overtake the leaders

My main reason for going to Caulfield was to see The Cleaner, Disposition and Prince Harada and the only one of the three that won was Prince Harada, having his first start for a year. The break and his gelding obviously did him good, for though he only won by a short margin he looked good doing it.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Race 5 was the Geoff Murphy Handicap for three year old fillies over 1400 metres.  I observed the contenders in the mounting yard.

Japhils who ran second

Sea Spray – ran third

Samartested – the winner

Samartested is a half sister to the 2012 Blue Diamond winner Samaready though she has not shown the same talent as her big sister so far.

Race 5 down the straight – Samartested is about to overtake Japhils

Prince Harada’s race was next on the card, TheShark.com.au over 1100 metres.  He was the short priced favourite and as reported before he won narrowly from early leader Boomwaa with Agent running third.

Prince Harada being difficult in the mounting yard

Boomwaa on his way to the barriers

Agent on his way to the barriers

Race 6 – down the straight – Boomwaa leads with Prince Harada zooming down the outside.

As expected, The Cleaner took the lead in the Easter Cup, but he couldn’t maintain the pace and was overtaken by Escado, Sertorius and Shoreham. Sertorius ended up the winner, finally scoring some cred for himself after trying and failing in harder races.

The Cleaner in the mounting yard

Sertorius in the mounting yard

Race 7  finish – Escado leads with Sertorius in hot pursuit

I felt tempted to go home after the Easter Cup, but decided to stay for race 8, the Victoria Handicap, a Group 3 race over 1400 metres. I was interested in seeing how Disposition would perform. Ironically a fellow Western Australian horse, Waterman’s Bay, won the prize from The Peak and Sistine Demon. Disposition ended up finishing fourth.

Waterman’s Bay in the mounting yard.

Whilst I’ve been writing this post, I’ve been intermittently watching the races in Sydney. The track was heavy, but the results of the  Group 1 races were not all that surprising.

Pride of Dubai won the Sires from outsiders Odyssey Moon and Rageese who dead heated for second.

The Derby was won by New Zealand Derby winner Mongolian Khan with Hauraki splitting him and fellow New Zealander Volkstok’n’barrell.

Lankan Rupee, though given every chance was unable to feature in the finish of the TJ Smith. Chautauqua won by a nose from Lord of the Sky with Terravista running third.

And the Doncaster was won by three year old colt Kermadec from Japanese horse Real Impact with Royal Descent finishing in third place.

And So It Came To Be–Underwood Stakes Day Review

Foreteller on his way to the barriers prior to winning the Underwood Stakes

The undoubted hero of the day at Caulfield on Saturday was Foreteller, who took out the feature race, the Underwood Stakes in fine fashion, thus adding a third Group 1 race to his CV and giving his trainer Chris Waller a two State Group 1 double with Sacred Falls winning the George Main Stakes at Randwick.

As there are nine races on the program in Melbourne throughout Spring, the races are run at 35 minute intervals, so an afternoon at the races passes fairly swiftly. Previously the interval was 40 minutes, which on occasions was a tad too long.

Arriving at the course around 1.40 pm, just after Race 3, I as usual dallied around the stalls area. Not many of the stars had arrived at that point so I headed for the public lawn and mounting yard to view the runners in Race 4, the TMB Printing Handicap, a race over 1400 metres for three year old fillies.  I decided to have a little money on Fontein Ruby who I had witnessed beating the boys at Flemington at her last start. She’s a lovely black filly, but my bet must have put a hoodoo on her chances as she ended up unplaced.

 
Fontein Ruby in the mounting yard

The winner was Thinking Of You from the Peter Moody stable, with favourite Pickin’ Time running second 2½ lengths behind and Pittsburgh Flyer scoring third place.

Thinking Of You on her way to the barriers

My luck was out all day, so I should have given up after that race.

Despite my lack of success on the punt I did manage to take some good photos. As the day was not bright – in fact it was somewhat overcast and chilly –  the light was good for photography.

Back in the stalls area Silent Achiever had arrived, so I took to the opportunity to snap a few head shots.

Silent Achiever in her stall

She was being a bit naughty, chewing on her tether, pawing the straw on the floor of her stall and kicking the back of it.

The Offer was being walked in the walking ring, so I got a photo of him as well.

The Offer in the walking ring

Back in the mounting yard the runners were assembling for the fifth race on the program, the Dalziel Racing Tile Importing Handicap, a race for mares over 1400 metres. I was most interested in seeing Spirit of Heaven, Lights of Heaven’s younger sister.

Spirit of Heaven in the mounting yard

Of course my wager on her ensured she failed to run a place. The race was won by outsider Star Fashion, from favourite Suavito with Nadeem Miss running third.

Race 5 finish down the straight – Bloomingdale Miss leads but Star Fashion (lime & yellow silks, pink cap) is about to overtake her.

There was only one more race to run before the feature, and that was the Naturalism Stakes. For stayers, it is run over 2000 metres, and the winner gets automatic entry into the Caulfield Cup.

I viewed the runners in the mounting yard and on their way to the starting gates.


Let’s Make Adeal in the mounting yard

Spillway in the mounting yard

Bonfire in the mounting yard – finished third

Gris Caro the winner on his way to the barriers

Our Voodoo Prince on his way to the barriers

Entirely Platinum – finished second

Gris Caro raced up with the speed  beside Bonfire through most of the race and beat off a fast finishing Entirely Platinum to win by a nose, with Bonfire a similar short margin holding third. Spillway, who started as favourite, was blocked for a run and finished seventh.

Gris Caro, Entirely Platinum and Bonfire fight out the finish up the straight in the Naturalism Stakes

My money was on Our Voodoo Prince so naturally he came nowhere.

It was not a day for favourites at all, with only the winner of Race 9 gratifying favourites punters.

Next up was the Underwood Stakes so I made sure to stake out a spot on the fence next to the mounting yard.

Foreteller in the mounting yard

The Offer in the mounting yard

Super Cool in the mounting yard

Back on the public lawn at the fence one is given plenty of opportunities to take action shots as the horses leave the mounting yard to go to the barriers…

Happy Trails

Stipulate

Star Rolling

Lidari

Super Cool

Silent Achiever

No mare has won the Underwood Stakes since Tristarc won it way back in 1985, so the odds were against Silent Achiever from the start. Even so she started as favourite, but only managed to run fifth, though only two lengths off the winner.

For a while there watching the race, it looked like 50/1 shot Crackerjack King was going to cause a boilover. It was a very close finish with Foreteller diving through to win from Happy Trails by a nose with Crackerjack King holding on for third a length away.

Underwood Stakes finish  down the straight – Happy Trails, Crackerjack King & Foreteller & Lidari (obscured on the fence)  in a line of four, with Super Cool and Silent Achiever behind.

Foreteller’s win was popular with the crowd. He has a habit of winning Group 1 races every so often. You just have to predict which one it will be. Alas I didn’t have money on him this time, as I favoured the mare, so at least he was spared my kiss of death.

Foreteller in the winners rug after winning the Underwood Stakes.

I stayed for Race 8 as I wanted to photograph Samaready and May’s Dream. I got some lovely shots of Samaready, so it’s lucky that I did. After her failure in the Sportingbet Sprint she has been retired to stud, where she will have an appointment with All Too Hard in due course.

Samaready in the mounting yard

May’s Dream – she’s a small, pretty, lightly built mare

Shamal Wind

Forever Loved

Girl Guide – the winner

Spirits Dance

Refusing to give up after my run of losses, I threw one last dice to bet on Spirits Dance who I thought had as good a chance as any and was at good odds. For a moment I thought she would win, but she was overtaken by Girl Guide, A Time For Julia and Shamal Wind and finished fifth.

Girl Guide is a half sister to Gregers and obviously has some of her talent on the track. She was third favourite, so it wasn’t such a surprise to see her win.

Race 8 finish down the straight – Spirits Dance is leading on the fence with A Time For Julia on her outside. Girl Guide is in hot pursuit in third spot about to overtake.

After that race I called it quits and didn’t stay for the final race of the day. I did however take the opportunity to go check out Cauthen in the stalls to get a photo of him.

The handsome Cauthen in his stall

I enjoy my Saturday afternoon outings to the races. These low key Group 1 race meetings are much more pleasant than the big race days like Derby Day and the Melbourne Cup. They’re not crowded and the atmosphere is friendly and cheerful.

Attending as often as I do, you run into the same people – other keen photographers like Geo Hillis and amateurs like me, as well as regular race enthusiasts who also enjoy an afternoon at the track. So a big hello to Artie if you should chance to visit this blog – look forward to catching up when next I’m at the track. And please feel free to steal my photos for your blog, whatever it is.

The local racing action next weekend is happening on Friday night at Moonee Valley and on Sunday at Caulfield. The AFL Grand Final dominates Melbourne next Saturday, so no major race meetings are scheduled, though Sydney has racing as usual.  The Group 1 Moir Stakes is run at Moonee Valley, and the Group 1 Rupert Clark Stakes features at Caulfield. I’m still deciding if I’ll go to either meeting.

Speaking of the Sydney races, the outcomes from last Saturday saw  an old favourite of mine, Manawanui, win his first race for several years. He’s been plagued by injury problems and returned to racing after a long break on Saturday. It’s good to see  him back in the winners circle.

Earthquake, having her first run over 1400 metres, was beaten again into third place in the Tea Rose Stakes. Outsider First Seal took home the bikkies from Winx.

Junoob beat Criterion in the Hills Stakes, and as previously mentioned Sacred Falls took out the George Main Stakes from stable mate Royal Descent with 60/1 shot Laser Hawk running third.

The Thrills Continue–Racing at Caulfield & Randwick

Silent Achiever in the mounting yard at Caulfield – Memsie Stakes Day

Caulfield is offering free entry on Saturday for the Underwood Stakes meeting, so naturally I’ll sally along to take in the atmosphere of first class racing once more . And hopefully Melbourne’s weather will play nice, after this past week brought a return to winter chill.

The feature event is the aforementioned Group 1 Underwood Stakes, run over 1800 metres. Last year Atlantic Jewel and It’s A Dundeel fought out an exciting finish down the straight with It’s A Dundeel the victor by the narrowest of margins.

This year’s edition has a pretty good field as you’d expect in a Group 1 contest.  The top contenders are Silent Achiever who in my opinion is the top pick, Foreteller who always runs an honest race, Happy Trails ditto, and Star Rolling who won the PB Lawrence Stakes at  Caulfield in August. Of course I’d love old fave Super Cool, who is backing up in this race after running last week, to show some of the form that won him the Australian Cup – his last win in fact.  Lidari and The Offer also have a chance.

The support card is mildly interesting though not top class. A few of the horses I follow are engaged in a few a them.

The Group 3 Naturalism Stakes (2000 metres) is one for stayers hoping to win a place in the Caulfield Cup.  Top pick is the Chris Waller trained Our Voodoo Prince. His name is a clever interpretation of his breeding (out of Kingmambo x Ouija Board). Spillway has had two runs so far in his Spring campaign, running second to Star Rolling in the PB Lawrence Stakes and fourth in last week’s Makybe Diva Stakes, so he is one of the top chances and must win this to have a hope of running in the Caulfield Cup.  Bonfire has claims with close seconds in his only two runs this spring in Sydney. The most interesting runner is Zanbagh who ran second to Rising Romance in the Sydney Oaks. And when will Let’s Make Adeal make some headway? She has generally been disappointing of late.

The Group 3 Sportingbet Sprint Series Heat 2 Stakes (1200 metres) is run after the feature race, and looks to have attracted a really good field of smart mares. Samaready makes a welcome return to racing in this event and is the class act if she is back to her best.  It’s good to see She’s Archie’s daughter May’s Dream back on the track again. This race is too short for her, so she is not expected to win. She won the South Australian Oaks at her last start in April. Also in the field is Spirits Dance who in Autumn built up  four wins on the gallop and shouldn’t be dismissed, A Time For Julia who ran a close second to Gregers in the Cockram Stakes and Shamal Wind who has a good record first up and can fly like the proverbial over the distance. Throw in Jessie Belle and Girl Guide as place chances.

The final race on the program at Caulfield is the Le Pine Funerals Handicap and is of interest only because Cauthen is in the field. He was thrown in at the deep end at his last start in the McEwen Stakes and finished sixth. I had a look at him on that day and he has grown into an impressive looking young horse.  With his light weight and the services of top jockey Tommy Berry he may show the form that had him beating Long John and Shamus Award back in Spring last year.

In Sydney the racing card at Randwick is much better.  The Group 1 George Main Stakes (1600 metres) is the feature race of the day and has almost the same field that contested the Chelmsford Stakes on
6 September, with a few variations. Anyway you’ve got Hawkspur who won the aforementioned race by a nostril from Royal Descent who is also in the field along with Sacred Falls who ran fourth. He will appreciate the good track that is finally likely for Randwick on Saturday and is a top contender over the distance. Perhaps Lucia Valentina can repeat her incredible win in the Tramway Stakes if that effort didn’t overtax her, and maybe the spruiked sole three year old Panzer Division can give all the older horses a galloping lesson.  Also New Zealand mare Rising Romance, who won the Sydney Oaks is sure to feature somewhere.

Earthquake will be out to redeem her reputation in the Group 2 Tea Rose Stakes (1400 metres). It’s obvious she is not suited to heavy tracks after her defeat at her last start in the Furious Stakes where she ran third. The winner on that occasion was Winx who will be aiming to keep her perfect unbeaten record intact in the Tea Rose.  Also in the picture are Peggy Jean and Alpha Miss.

The other interesting Group 2 race at Randwick is the Hill Stakes run over 2000 metres. After two horses were scratched, a field of six will compete for the honours. These include La Amistad, Criterion, Bagman and Moriarty. I’ll be torn between barracking for La Amistad and Criterion.

All in all it looks to be a good day of racing, and so you would expect as the spring racing season progresses.  It’s less than month to the running of the first of the big Cups – the Caulfield Cup – so my Saturday afternoons are taken care of for the next month or so.