Field Of Play proves best of the boys in Blue Diamond Prelude
Field Of Play ($3.00) has proven too good for the boys in the Group 3 Blue Diamond Prelude (C&G) (1100m) at Caulfield on Saturday afternoon, giving connections an easy choice to pay the late nomination fee to gain entry for the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m).
The son of Deep Field put the writing on the wall after a dominant debut victory at Moonee Valley on December 28, pressing clear by 3.3 lengths to suggest the two-year-old could make the grade in Saturday company.
It was a perfectly rated steer by Blake Shinn, electing to be positive in the early stages, allowing the Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young-trained gelding to stride forward and sit outside the post-time favourite Aleppo Pine ($2.40).
The Godolphin colt appeared to be travelling well under Jamie Melham; however, when asked for the ultimate effort, the son of Blue Point was running on empty very quickly as Field Of Play booted clear in the final furlong.
The pair of Devil Night ($41.00) and Katsumi Orochi ($81.00) both made strong inroads late in the piece, but it was all in vain as Field Of Play maintained his winning break to stamp himself as a leading contender for the 2025 Blue Diamond.
Natalie Young was on course at Caulfield to represent the stable and credited the tactics of Blake Shinn.
“Blake just rode him absolutely fantastic,” said Young.
“He just actually said, ‘I’ll just ride him like he’s the best horse in the race’, and he did and he got the job done.
“It’s a good problem to have you know that you’ll be 55k short when you’re racing for that prizemoney.
“I was thinking he won’t have that turn of foot because he’s a lot more handier, but we had to because the favourite was going to be off and gone and we didn’t want to be waiting for it.
“I just thought, once he balanced up and got on the right leg, I knew he’d find another gear and he did today.
“It’s great to see, it’s fantastic for Mr Cheng and Mike Kneebone, a big part of us getting this horse and having him, so it’s fantastic to know that we’re going to be back here in two weeks chasing a Blue Diamond.”
Blake Shinn was elated with the win and suggested connections should backup into the Group 1 feature.
“He’s taken a step from MV and it’s always a bit of an unknown coming here to the lead-up to the Blue Diamond, (knowing) where you’re going to sit, but he really put his hand up today,” said Shinn.
“I’d be putting a bit of my percentage up to be paying the late entry fee, he’s going to be one of the favourites I’d imagine off the back of that win.
“He’s just a really beautiful horse to ride. I’ve ridden a lot of nice two-year-olds over my time and he’s got a little bit of a way to go to be like a Capitalist, but he’s a very impressive horse.”
Field Of Play is now the current favourite at $5.00 with BlondeBet for the Group 1 Blue Diamond (1200m) at Caulfield on February 22.
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