‘Open’ Blue Diamond could favour Godolphin outsiders
There will be two Godolphin runners line up in Saturday’s $1.5 million Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield, with Daumier and Seven Sisters looking to repeat the feat of Lyre three years ago by taking out the Group 1 feature.
Anthony Freedman trained that horse to victory in the famous blue silks in 2019, so he knows what it takes to win a Blue Diamond, while he and his son Sam combined to win this race 12 months ago with Artorius.
The Freedmans saddle up Daumier in their quest to go back-to-back, with the colt set to be ridden by Mark Zahra from barrier five – the same barrier that Lyre won this race from.
Daumier, a colt by Epaulette, was impressive in winning on debut over 1000m in the Blue Diamond Preview (C&G), before running third to Lofty Strike in the Prelude on February 12.
Stakes winner number 17 for Epaulette (Commands) as Daumier (2 c ex Illustrate by Street Cry) takes out the Blue Diamond Preview C&G (Listed, 1000m) on debut for @FreedmanRacing. Formerly with @DarleyAus, Epaulette is standing his first season in Turkey in 2022. pic.twitter.com/J9fQahLo5M
— ANZ Bloodstock (@anz_news) January 26, 2022
“It looks like one of the most open Diamonds in recent years and it will probably come down to who gets the right run,” Sam Freedman said in Godolphin’s weekly update.
“He gets the blinkers on Saturday. We’ve resisted putting them on before, but he worked strongly in them on Tuesday.
“He’s fit and well, he doesn’t need a whole lot of work. He relaxed in his work on Tuesday.”
Freedman is hopeful that his two-year-old will get a soft run in transit from a good alley, which will allow him to be “fighting out the finish”.
“In his races, he bounces and travels strongly but just tends to wander around, particularly at his debut when he won,” he said.
“He’s drawn a good gate, so he’s going to get a soft run and get every chance in an open race.
“You need a bit of luck in these races so we’re hopeful our horse can be somewhere there fighting out the finish.”
Also donning the royal blue is the James Cummings-trained filly Seven Sisters.
The daughter of Street Boss was beaten on debut on Boxing Day at Geelong before going one better on January 14 at that same track, leading all of the way as a $1.35 favourite to win by one-tenth of a length.
Seven Sisters most recently finished fourth in the Blue Diamond Prelude (F), beaten just under two lengths by one of the more fancied runners for this race, Revolutionary Miss.
REVOLUTIONARY MISS the first SW for Russian Revolution winning the Gr2 Blue Diamond Prelude (F) at Caulfield.
1/2 sister to SW Equation, dam SP Purcentage.@SnowdenRacing1 @TripleCrownSynd @SledmereStud @mmsnippets @Chinahorseclub @khing_ah @NewgateFarm pic.twitter.com/3uDiR9GlkD
— Pedigree Update (@pedigreeupdate) February 12, 2022
Fred Kersley has been given the opportunity to ride this filly and will have to overcome barrier 15, although Cummings is hopeful that she can settle closer than what we saw in her most recent outing.
“I think she might have a chance to press forward and get a good run,” Cummings said.
“I don’t think there’s much chance from well back there.”
Cummings is confident that Seven Sisters will once again enjoy being on top of the ground, like she was at Caulfield in her latest start.
“She’s going well, she started odds-on to win her maiden at Geelong on a soft track,” he continued.
“She was much better back on top of the ground in the Prelude.
“She worked home really nicely after not having the best of runs in transit.”
Daumier is a $16 chance to take out the Blue Diamond, while Seven Sisters is less fancied at $31 with Sportsbet.