Ellsberg is flying high and tipped to keep the big spring wins coming as favourite for the inaugural $2 million The Five Diamonds race in Sydney on Saturday.
Ellsberg (brown) is favourite to win the $2 million The Five Diamonds in Sydney on Saturday. Photo: Steve Hart.
A set weights plus penalties event for five-year-olds, many of which may have contested the now $10 million Golden Eagle (1500m) as four-year-olds the season before, the Five Diamonds runs over 1800m at Rosehill Gardens for the first time this weekend.
The Five Diamonds field is down to a dozen after the early withdrawal of the Anthony Cummings-trained Caesars Palace (4), and it is the horse donning the No. 1 saddlecloth dominating the markets at Ladbrokes.com.au.
The in-form Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou-trained Ellsberg gets the run of the race from barrier two with Tommy Berry booked to ride the son of Spill The Beans.
Two back he carried 56kg to a dead-heat win in the Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) at a big price before franking that form with a 2.5 length success carrying 59.5kg in the $1 million Five Diamonds Prelude (1500m).
He now heads Five Diamonds betting at $2.60 to make it a hat-trick back to 59kg under the conditions.
There are three other runners under double-figures to take out Saturday’s $1.15 million first prize including the firming second elect, early market mover Laws Of Indices ($4.50).
The Annabel Neasham-trained Power stallion is winless down under not having won since a Group 1 win over 1400m in in July of 2021.
He has performed well in some big races since coming to Australia including his third in the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes (1500m) here in the wet back in March.
This spring he resumed with a fourth in the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke (1400m) and finished an eye-catching second at double-figures in the Group 1 Toorak Handicap (1600m).
He was last seen running under three lengths off the brilliant Godolphin galloper Anamoe at The Valley in the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) and heads north looking to break his Australian maiden this weekend.
Ayrton ($8) coming off a fourth in the Prelude and last start Sale Cup winner Uncle Bryn ($9.50) follow in the markets drawn barriers 11 and eight respectively.
Prepared out of Cranbourne by Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young, lightly-raced Sea The Stars five-year-old Uncle Bryn has form around Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup winner Gold Trip.
He beat the subsequent Melbourne Cup winning top weight home when they ran second and third respectively behind Smokin’ Romans in the Group 3 Naturalism Stakes (2000m) back in September.
The 2022 Five Diamonds runs as Rosehill Race 8 at 4:50pm (AEDT) on Saturday’s bumper 10-race card, and full markets from Ladbrokes.com.au are available here.
2022 The Five Diamonds Final Field & Barrier Draw
| No | Last 10 | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | Weight | Probable Weight | Penalty | H Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12730×6311 | ELLSBERG | Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou | Tommy Berry | 2 | 59kg | 111 | ||
| 2 | 730409×428 | LAWS OF INDICES (IRE) | Annabel Neasham | Hugh Bowman | 12 | 59kg | 107 | ||
| 3 | 13411×8861 | RUSTIC STEEL | Kris Lees | Jay Ford | 10 | 59kg | 105 | ||
| 4 | x13x187x24 | AYRTON (NZ) | Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr) | Sam Clipperton | 11 | 57kg | 104 | ||
| 5 | 8x5311x907 | MILFORD (NZ) | Michael Moroney | Glyn Schofield | 6 | 57kg | 98 | ||
| 6 | 10x0x1804x | NEW MANDATE (IRE) | Chris Waller | Kerrin McEvoy | 5 | 56kg | 100 | ||
| 7 | x316x62201 | UNCLE BRYN (GB) | Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young | Ms Rachel King | 8 | 56kg | 99 | ||
| 8 | 13x212626x | LONGVILLERS (FR) | Chris Waller | Jason Collett | 13 | 56kg | 96 | ||
| 9 | x21571x881 | DIAMIL (IRE) | John O’Shea | Regan Bayliss | 9 | 56kg | 95 | ||
| 10 | 51x219x223 | SIBAAQ (GB) | Annabel Neasham | Dylan Gibbons (a) | 7 | 56kg | 95 | ||
| 11 | x606176010 | CAESARS PALACE | Anthony Cummings | 4 | 56kg | 78 | |||
| 12 | 53x43412x3 | REBEL RAMA | Marc Conners | William Pike | 3 | 54kg | 95 | ||
| 13 | 2130×31756 | ITA | Bjorn Baker | Brock Ryan | 1 | 54kg | 81 |
Table Credit: Racing Australia.
