This Saturday Anthony Cummings’ promising filly Diamond Earth will look to earn a late entry into the 2012 Blue Diamond Stakes at the end of the month with a win against some of the best early chances in the juvenile classic at Caulfield.
Diamond Earth will shoot for a late Blue Diamond entry by winning the Prelude at Caulfield this Saturday
A diminutive but determined daughter of Choisir out of Strategic mare Face Of The Earth, Diamond Earth is one of 12 fillies engaged to face off in the $125,000 Group 3 Patinack Farm Blue Diamond Fillies Prelude (1100m), which runs as Caulfield Race 3 on CF Orr Stakes Day.
Although not currently nominated for the $1 million Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m), held on February 25, an upset win in the Prelude this weekend could be enough to prompt connections to pay the $50,000 late entry fee to bring her into the race.
Diamond Earth, a $60,000 purchase from last year’s Sydney Classic Yearling Sale, has already amassed over $375,000 in career prize money thanks to her lucrative wins in the Inglis Banner and Inglis Nursery.
She vied for an Inglis series triple last start but narrowly went down to Cavalry Rose in the Inglis Classic over 1200m at Rosehill.
On Saturday Diamond Earth sees Caulfield for the first time since running eighth to former Blue Diamond favourite Jimando in the Listed Inglis Debutants Stakes (1000m) back in October, but having now seen the 1200m looks set for improvement.
While Diamond Earth is a well-performing juvenile with plenty of potential, she faces a crack field on Saturday full of livewire chances and connections are keeping a lid on their excitement for now.
“She’s doing quite well but it’s a big ask for her down there,” part-owner Geoff Coady said.
“She’s meeting I think five or six of the top horses in the betting for the Blue Diamond a fortnight later.”
Among her competition in the BD Prelude (Fillies) are current Blue Diamond Stakes betting favourite through Luxbet Malasun ($6 Luxbet), her smart stablemate Samaready, the Peter Snowden-trained Applegate and John Thompson’s Group 3 winner Real Stolle.
While admitting the Blue Diamond Stakes is an enticing goal, Coady said that whether they pay for Diamond Earth to go into the race was entirely up to her and that they would look after the filly first and foremost and not just chase the dollar.
“We’ll just have a look and see how she goes on Saturday, then I’ll sit down with Anthony (Cummings) and we’ll see how she pulls up,” he said.
“If she does pull up well and she does win, there’s no reason why we wouldn’t pay the late entry fee and run her in the race.
“I do hope I’m in a position come Saturday night or Sunday where it’s something that we are contemplating.
“That decision will be made firstly by her.
“We’ll put the horse’s wellbeing first and our second, which is always the case.”
At this stage the attention is firmly focused on Saturday and the Blue Diamond, not the upcoming $3.5 million Group 1 Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill on April 7, which is the richest race for two-year-olds in the world.
“We’ve favoured the Blue Diamond over the Godlen Slipper so that’s the way that it’s heading,” Coady said.
“We haven’t had any reason to change our mind so we’ve just gone ahead with the long-term plan.
“She’s a very tough little filly, she continues to look well and she’s improved with each run.
“I’d never say never (to the Golden Slipper) but it hasn’t been a path that we’ve mapped out.”
One option other than the Golden Slipper for Diamond Earth would be the $250,000 Listed Black Opal Stakes (1200m) at Canberra on March 11, a race also on the cards for Gai Waterhouse’s promising Canterbury winner Later Gator.
“We’ll see how she performs in Melbourne and if we did press on of course the Black Opal would be an option,” Coady said.
“If she did contest the Black Opal she would be very, very hard to beat.”
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