One of the highly-spruiked features of this Saturday’s CF Orr Stakes Day at Caulfield is the $125,000 Group 3 Blue Diamond Colts & Geldings Prelude (1100m) where two-year-olds heading towards the prestigious 2011 Blue Diamond Stakes will face off.
Clear favourite in the futures betting for the Blue Diamond Stakes at Luxbet is Peter Snowden’s unbeaten colt Sepoy, who is also set to lead the markets for the 2011 Blue Diamond Prelude on Saturday.
Sepoy has drawn barrier seven for the Prelude, the son of Elusive Quality out to maintain his flawless record after taking out the Blue Diamond Preview at Caulfield last start on January 26.
Another Group race winner in the B.D. Prelude this year is the Wendy Kelly-trained Arctic Command.
The Freeze gelding took out the Group 3 Maribyrnong Plate (1000m) at Flemington on Emirates Stakes Day last year and after winning a trial at Cranbourne in late January has a chance to win a second Group race this weekend and cause an upset over Sepoy.
Three horses from the stables of top Victorian trainer Peter Moody are in the Prelude this year with Eclair Desire, Fire Of London and Huegill all set to run.
Fastnet Rock gelding Eclair Desire has come up trumps in the Blue Diamond Prelude (C&G) barrier draw set to start from the inside alley with Chris Symons in the mount.
Runner-up in the Blue Diamond Preview, Cranbourne galloper Grand Britannia is also backing up in the Prelude but has drawn poorly with barrier 10.
Other lesser-known juveniles in the field include the David Hayes-trained Redoute’s Choice colt Poitier (barrier eight) on debut, Danny O’Brien’s Running Tall (barrier two) who ran third to Arctic Command in the Maribyrnong Plate at their only race start to date and the Mick Price-trained stablemates Big Rojo (barrier three) and Instinction (barrier 11).
Odd for the Blue Diamond Colts & Gelding Prelude will open at Luxbet tomorrow so start your with Australia’s leading online bookie now to get in on the action!
2011 Patinack Farm Blue Diamond Prelude (C&G) Field, Barriers & Weights
| # | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | Weight (kg) | H. Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SEPOY | Peter Snowden | Mark Zahra | 7 | 55.5 | 89 |
| 2 | ARCTIC COMMAND | Wendy Kelly | Dale Smith | 9 | 55.5 | 76 |
| 3 | GRAND BRITANNIA | Robbie Laing | Craig Williams | 10 | 55.5 | 77 |
| 4 | RUNNING TALL | Danny O’Brien | Ben Melham | 2 | 55.5 | 66 |
| 5 | ECLAIR DESIRE | Peter G Moody | Chris Symons | 1 | 55.5 | 64 |
| 6 | INSTINCTION | Mick Price | Craig Newitt | 11 | 55.5 | 64 |
| 7 | BOYS ON TOUR | John P Thompson | James Winks | 5 | 55.5 | 63 |
| 8 | FIRE OF LONDON | Peter G Moody | Dwayne Dunn | 6 | 55.5 | 61 |
| 9 | BIG ROJO | Mick Price | Glen Boss | 3 | 55.5 | – |
| 10 | HUEGILL | Peter G Moody | Luke Nolen | 4 | 55.5 | – |
| 11 | POITIER | David Hayes | Steven Arnold | 8 | 55.5 | – |
