A neat front running ride by Sam Clipperton saw Diddums lead all of the way to win the Group 3 $200,000 The Green Guys P J Bell Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on day one of ‘The Championships’ today.
Diddums, above, led all the way to win the P J Bell Stakes at Randwick. Photo by Steve Hart.
Second emergency Diddums only gained a run in the P J Bell Stakes with several fillies being scratched and Clipperton had no hesitation in taking her straight to the front from barrier two.
Diddums provided bookies with another good result and the filly saluted at $19 with $7 chance Prompt Response running on well for second ahead of $26 outsider Smart Amelia.
Diddums was stepping straight up from running second in a 1200m BenchMark 67 Handicap at Warwick Farm on March 8 to claiming a Group 3 victory on one of the biggest days of the Sydney Autumn Carnival but trainer Gerald Ryan wasn’t surprised to see the Snitzel filly run her rivals ragged.
“After she worked on Monday morning she was going to be good enough,” Ryan said.
“She is a filly that kept improving and is as honest as they come.”
“Before she raced we thought she might win a country maiden but when I whacked the blinkers on her she improved out of sight.”
“She won easy in a good form race at Warwick Farm and I said we will give her a month off and aim her at the P J Bell.”
Clipperton was happy to stay up against the inside fence and Diddums seemed to handle the heavy track well.
“She gave me a good kick staying up hard against the fence.” Clipperton said.
The John O’Shea trained Raiment was sent out as the $2.35 favourite and after being given every chance by James Doyle, failed to go on with it over the concluding stages and missed a place to finish in seventh spot.
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