Dunn banking on blinkers in Blue Diamond
Dwayne Dunn is hoping blinkers can assist Catch Me and give him a fifth Blue Diamond win.
Two weeks is a long time in racing, especially with a two-year-old.
Leading into the fillies division of the Blue Diamond Prelude at Caulfield on February 9, Catch Me was vying for favouritism for Saturday’s Group One Blue Diamond Stakes, Melbourne’s premier juvenile race.
But in the near 65 seconds it took to run that race in which the filly finished a fading 10th in a field of 12, Catch Me eased to be equal fourth favourite at $11 for Saturday’s feature.
New race rider Dwayne Dunn is not sure what he will get when legged aboard on Saturday, although he knows the filly feels well in early morning work-outs.
“Two weeks ago she’s the horse you wanted to be on and then on race day she crumbled,” Dunn said.
“She’d run so well first-up, so maybe it was the second-up syndrome because she’d never run second-up before.
“I’ve galloped her since and what I know of her she’s fine.
“She’s got an ideal gate. There’s good speed. She should land close in behind them and hopefully run really well.”
Trainers Peter and Paul Snowden have opted for blinkers on Saturday.
It’s a ploy that has been used successfully before in the Blue Diamond and on two of Dunn’s previous four winners.
“Undoubtedly (2005) and Nadeem (2006) had blinkers on for the first time when they won,” Dunn said.
“It is a good recipe but I would have liked her to run fifth or sixth the other day which would have given me a little more confidence.
“They put the blinkers on her because if she drew, one, two, three it might help her in being able to hold her spot as they felt she was a bit intimidated with horses around her last time.”
Dunn said Catch Me had been tractable in the headgear in her work, not wanting to overdo things.
And he hopes the pace will be solid to give him a nice run.
“They might look to hold those leaders up, but they look pretty one-dimensional, so it sets us to be just behind that speed,” Dunn said.
“If she brings her ‘A’ game, we know she’s good enough.”