After her slashing win in the Fillies Blue Diamond Prelude at Caulfield over the weekend, Mick Price’s speedy two-year-old Samaready has stormed to the top of the 2012 Blue Diamond Stakes odds overtaking her formerly more fancied stablemate Malasun.
More Than Ready filly Samaready lived up to her potential and saluted for the punters in the $125,000 Listed Blue Diamond Fillies Prelude (1100m) on Saturday, cruising to a three and a quarter length victory over Formidable.
Prior to Saturday Samaready, who is now unbeaten in two career runs in Melbourne, was paying $9 in the Luxbet futures for the $1 million Group 1 Patinack Farm Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) running at Caulfield on February 25.
After her brilliant prelude success, which saw Samaready trounce her female rivals 0.77 seconds quicker than General Rippa won the colts & geldings edition in on Saturday, the bookies have slashed her Blue Diamond Stakes price right into $2.60.
Jockey Craig Newitt, aboard for both of Samaready’s wins to date, has high hopes for her heading into the grand final showdown Saturday week saying she was full of improvement.
“She didn’t have any luck from her gate, sat three deep, but 500 metres from home she was never going to lose,” he said of her Prelude run.
“She just keeps improving every-thing we do with it.
“Even when she put them away, she was having a look at the big screen and the big crowd.
“Overall, it was a pretty soft win.
“She’s going to take great improvement from that run.”
Price is also optimistic over his Blue Diamond chances this year saying that everything about Samaready’s performance on Saturday hinted at better things to come.
“I think the margin, the time and the way she found a little bit like Flemington (last start) in the way that she found that extra gear,” he said.
“While here at Caulfield she copped a little bit of a niggle, but it certainly points pretty strongly towards her running a nice 1200m.”
The next shortest-priced of the Blue Diamond Stakes hopefuls is Tony McEvoy’s Adelaide raider Jimando ($8 Luxbet) who was last seen running third to the David Hayes-trained Mama’s Choice and the weekend’s Prelude runner-up Formidable in the Listed Chairman’s Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield on February 4.
Matt Laurie’s Mossman colt The Travelling Man ($9 Luxbet), who will go straight into the $1 million feature after winning the BD Preview back on January 26, is the only other Blue Diamond nominee under $10 in the current betting markets.
Former Blue Diamond Stakes top-elect Malasun has drifted right out from $6 to $31 through Luxbet after she failed to come within eight and a quarter lengths of her emerging stablemate Samaready in Saturday’s Prelude.
The Peter Snowden-trained Applegate has also taken a dive in Blue Diamond betting blowing out from $9 to $26 at Luxbet after her disappointing first-up effort finishing eighth in the race on Saturday.
Meanwhile Formidable is likely to be a Blue Diamond Stakes late entry at a cost of $55,000 to connections by February 21 after her effort to run second to Samaready on Saturday and beat a number of the other early Blue Diamond fancies.
“Perhaps me might be paying up to run second but if she’s good, fit and fresh she’ll take her place in the race,” co-trainer Mathew Ellerton said.
In other Blue Diamond Stakes betting news, David Hayes’ upset Blue Diamond Prelude (Colts & Geldings) winner General Rippa has firmed in from $81 to a much shorter $18 to hand his trainer with an incredible sixth Blue Diamond Stakes victory.
Still, the males’ edition of the BD Prelude on Saturday was an obviously much weaker affair and taking General Rippa on in the futures at Luxbet looks a risk.
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