The powerhouse Lindsay Park stable look to have unearthed a genuine Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes 2018 contender in smart filly Ennis Hill who saluted in the Group 3 $150,000 Ladbrokes Chairman’s Stakes (1000m) last weekend.
Smart filly Ennis Hill is on track for the 2018 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes after winning the Chairman’s Stakes for Lindsay Park. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.
In one of the early lead-up races at Caulfield Racecourse to the iconic Group 1 $1.5 million Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m), run on February 24, it was a stablemate to last year’s winner rising to the top.
The David Hayes-led Lindsay Park team prepared last year’s Blue Diamond Stakes champ Catchy (2017), and over the weekend a fellow Fastnet Rock filly put her claims forward to give the stable back-to-back victories.
Co-trainer Hayes celebrated his sixth Blue Diamond Stakes success with Catchy last Melbourne Festival of Racing and so chases an incredible seventh win this season.
Breaking her maiden status at start number two last Saturday, Ennis Hill caught the eye with her one and a half-length victory in the Ladbrokes Chairman’s Stakes.
Ridden to victory by Stephen Baster, the $5.50 shot beat home the James Cummings-trained favourite Encryption ($3.20F), while the Mick Price-trained Prairie Fire ($19) rounded out the trifecta in third.
“The 1000 metres suits her because she’s fast but she’s got a lot of quality about her so I don’t see why she’s not going to get 1200 metres,” winning hoop Baster said of Ennis Hill and her chances in the Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes.
It was an improved effort by Ennis Hill, donning blinkers for the first time, whose debut in mid-December at the track produced the close fourth to Ollivander.
“She did what we thought she would do,” co-trainer Ben Hayes told AAP on Saturday.
“In her first start, she didn’t. It just shows they can get it wrong.
“She just needed the run to come on and the blinkers really did the trick with her.
“She jumped better today and she just never looked like losing.”
Ennis Hill is set to go straight to the Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes next-up at the end of the month.
All-in Blue Diamond Stakes odds at race sponsor Ladbrokes.com.au have firmed notably on the Chairman’s Stakes winner with Ennis Hill now into $15 for the win.
Three runners share $8 favouritism at the top of the latest Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes betting markets with the Tony McEvoy-trained Inglis Premier winner from the weekend Kinky Boom, undefeated Lindsay Park-trained colt Long Leaf and McEvoy’s improving I Am Invincible filly Oohood.
Ennis Hill’s stablemate Formality won last year’s Ladbrokes Chairman’s Stakes who went on to finish third in the Group 1 to Catchy next start.
The next round of official Blue Diamond lead-up races are the Preludes running this weekend at Caulfield making now the time to back your early favourites at the right price through Ladbrokes.com.au.
2018 Ladbrokes Chairman’s Stakes Results
Caulfield Race 2 – 03/02/2018
| Place | # | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Br. | Weight | SP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | ENNIS HILL | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig | Stephen Baster | – | 5 | 54kg | $5.50 |
| 2 | 1 | ENCRYPTION | James Cummings | Damian Lane | 1.5L | 3 | 56kg | $3.20F |
| 3 | 4 | PRAIRIE FIRE | Mick Price | Mark Zahra | 2.75L | 6 | 56kg | $19 |
| 4 | 3 | LOGAN RIVER | Tony McEvoy | Jamie Kah | 4L | 2 | 56kg | $4.20 |
| 5 | 5 | SUNSET WATCH | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | Dwayne Dunn | 5.25L | 7 | 56kg | $5.50 |
| 6 | 9 | OF IMPORTANCE | Mick Price | Damien Oliver | 8.75L | 1 | 54kg (cd 54.5kg) | $7.50 |
| 7 | 8 | NO TIME LIKE NOW | Mick Price | Michael Dee | 16.75L | 4 | 54kg | $21 |
| – | 2 | CHICAGO TYPEWRITER | Phillip Stokes | Regan Bayliss | – | 0 | – | – |
| – | 7 | METRONOME | Michael Kent | Ms Stephanie Thornton (a) | – | 0 | – | – |
