Racing
A Closer Look – Blue Diamond Preludes
The Blue Diamond spotlight will be shining on the two-year-olds this Saturday ay Caulfield.
Last year’s Blue Diamond winner Devil Night was runner-up to Field Of Play in the Blue Diamond Prelude.
Picture: Racing Photos
There has traditionally been a Group 1 flavour to the meeting that Caulfield will host this Saturday, but that is no longer the case thanks to the C F Orr Stakes' move to November last year.
A Group 1 since 1993, the 1400-metre Orr Stakes had been Australia's first Group 1 of the calendar year since 2011 and annually heralded the return of some of Australia's best gallopers.
That, understandably, made it the day's banner event, even if arguably the most intriguing races on the day were part of the undercard.
The two Blue Diamond Preludes, one for the colts and geldings and another for the fillies, have long been a staple of the day and will again be run this weekend.
The likelihood is that this year's Blue Diamond winner will be there.
The Preludes have proven the best Diamond guide since their inauguration in the early 1980s with Rancher, Midnight Fever, Courtza, Bel Esprit, Alinghi, Sepoy, Samaready, Earthquake, Catchy and Hayasugi among those to win the Group 1 Diamond after claiming a Prelude.
But the Preludes' influence runs well beyond the horses who have completed the double.
In the past 15 years, only three Diamond winners rounded out their preparations in a race other than one of the 1100m Preludes – Miracles Of Life (2013), Extreme Choice (2016) and Artorius (2021).
Seven colts and five fillies have come via a Prelude and the furthest back any finished was Tagaloa's fourth in 2020.
Daumier was third in the Prelude before winning the 2022 Diamond, while the other 10 all filled a quinella slot in the Prelude before their Diamond success.
The most recent was Devil Night, who was runner-up to Field Of Play in last year's colts and geldings Prelude on debut before winning the Diamond at start No 2.
That made him the first horse since the mighty Redoute's Choice to win the Diamond at their second start, giving hope to those getting to the races for the first time this weekend.
Closer To Free and March On By are the boys on debut this weekend, while Lindsay Park pair Medicinal and Portinari are among a handful of fillies stepping out for the first time.
Three-start maiden Streisand is the only youngster engaged this Saturday who has had more than two starts, which is out of step with the way Diamond hopefuls were prepared even a few years back, but is in line with recent trend of lighter preparations for juveniles.
Not one of the eight runners in the boys' Prelude has been to the races more than once.
So, the Diamond picture could change drastically on Saturday, and history tells us that if a horse is to be a genuine hope in the $2 million Group 1 in a fortnight's time, they need to be there when the whips are cracking this weekend.
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