Horse Racing

The 2017 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes is Victoria’s premier sprint race for two year old horses, offering an unmatched $1.5 million in prize money.

The Group 1 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes is held at Melbourne’s Caulfield Racecourse each February during the Melbourne Autumn Racing Carnival and is run over a sprint distance of 1200m.

As a set-weights race the colts and geldings in the Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes field are required to carry 55.5kg and fillies must carry 53kg. The winner of the Blue Diamond Stakes takes home $900,000 in prize money plus a trophy worth $15,000.

The Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes Day features a total of three elite level autumn races being accompanied on the card by the Group 1 Futurity Stakes (1400m) and Group 1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m).

The 2017  Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes ran at Caulfield Racecourse on Saturday February 25, 2017.

2017 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes Results

Check out the full Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes 2017 Results & Finishing Order below – the Group 1 won by the star filly Catchy who came from well back in the field to charge home and retain her flawless record (4-4-0-0) and hand co-trainer David Hayes his sixth win in the race.

2017 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes Betting Odds

The futures markets for the Blue Diamond Stakes field 2017 courtesy of the race sponsor Ladbrokes.com.au are listed below with all-in pricing on the hopeful two-year-olds heading towards the autumn Group 1 classic.

2017 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes Field

The official Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes field and barrier draw are released by Racing Victoria the Tuesday before the race.

The Blue Diamond Stakes field is determined after three rounds of earlier declarations that take place from November of the year before. Final Blue Diamond Stakes acceptances clost connections a fe of $5,500.

The 2017 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes Final Field & Barriers are set for release at 9am (local time) on Tuesday February 21, 2017. 

The official 2017 Blue Diamond Stakes Final Field was released on Tuesday February 21 with 17 final acceptances for the capacity 16-starter line-up. See below for the full field and follow the link for more on the hopefuls led by six Lindsay Park-trained runners including the Blue Diamond Stakes favourite Catchy.

The 2017 Blue Diamond Stakes Barrier Draw was announced shortly after final acceptances with the favourite Catchy (13) drawn wide, while Jukebox (4) drew the most successful barrier in the past 30 plus years.

2017 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes Nominations

The very first Blue Diamond Stakes nominations close around early July the previous year.

The 2017 Blue Diamond Stakes nominations feature a total of 1382 early entries that can be found on the official Melbourne Racing Club (MRC) website.

2017 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes First Declarations

Helping to narrow down the list of youngsters heading towards the Group 1 of the following February, the Blue Diamond Stakes first declarations or first acceptances close the November prior and traditionally feature around 500 – 600 youngsters.Connections are charged a $330 fee at first acceptance stage in the Blue Diamond Staykes, which is the same cost of the nominations of yearlings for the classic.

The 2017 Blue Diamond Stakes first acceptances closed at midday (local time) on Tuesday November 22, 2016 and featured 686 entries.

View the official 2017 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes First Acceptances.

2017 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes Second Declarations

The Blue Diamond Stakes field begins to take further shape when the Blue Diamond Stakes second declarations or acceptances close in early January, around one and a half months before Blue Diamond Stakes Day. Blue Diamond second declarations cost connections a $440 fee.

The 2017 Blue Diamond Stakes second acceptances closed at midday (local time) on Tuesday January 10, 2017 and left 198 contenders.

View the official 2017 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes Second Acceptances.

2017 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes Third Declarations

The third round of Blue Diamond Stakes declarations are the last before the final Blue Diamond Stakes field is announced the week of the race. Blue Diamond Stakes third declarations cost connections a fee of $660 and close in late January.

After third declarations but before the final field is released, connections have a final chance to enter their horses into the Blue Diamond Stakes field the Monday before the race at a hefty late entry fee of $55,000.

The 2017 Blue Diamond Stakes third acceptances closed at midday (local time) on Tuesday January 31, 2017 and featured 79 remaining hopefuls.

View the official 2017 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes Third Acceptances.

Blue Diamond Stakes History & Records

First run in 1971 and won by Tolerance, the Blue Diamond Stakes went on to be claimed by sprinting champion Manikato in 1978. In 1994, Hurricane Sky managed to record the fastest stakes time with a finishing time of 1 minute 8.10 seconds.

Adding to the list of recent Blue Diamond Stakes records was jockey Dwane Dunn who managed his fourth consecutive win in the classic with Reaan in 2008 after winning with Sleek Chassis (2007), Nadeem (2006) and Undoubtedly (2005).

David Hayes has trained five Blue Diamond Stakes winners (since 1983) with: Mahassin (1990), Canonise (1991), Nadeem (2006), Sleek Chassis (2007) and Reaan (2008).

See below for a full list of Blue Diamond Stakes winners and placegetters going back to 2000.

Recent Blue Diamond Stakes