Grahame Begg’s smart colt Written By has retained his undefeated status and could be 2018 Blue Diamond Stakes-bound after defeating Plague Stone in the Prelude at Caulfield.

Written By was impressive winning the Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Prelude (C&G) 2018 on CF Orr Stakes Day. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

The son of Written Tycoon out of bargain-buy mare Yau Chin, the improving chestnut won his debut at Sandown-Hillside in December and saluted again in the much tougher Group 3 $200,000 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Prelude (C&G) over 1100m on C.F. Orr Stakes Day.

Ridden by Jordan Childs who did a wonderful job on the up-and-comer, Written By showed his adaptability overcoming the outside barrier in the Group 3 to win in a slick time of 1:04.98.

That was slightly faster than the fillies’ edition one race earlier, won by the Lindsay Park-trained Enbihaar in 1:05.22.

A tough horse to train and one known for his bad barrier manners, Childs said the team had finally got on top of Written By ($6) who had to fend off a late charge by the James Cummings-trained favourite Plague Stone ($4.80) to win the Blue Diamond (C&G) Prelude.

“I think he’s got quite a bit of class,” Childs told the media post-win on Saturday.

“He hit the front a little bit soon, but I think there’s more to come from him because he was pretty soft on the line.

“The horse is going well….they’ve done a great job with this horse.”

Fast from out wide, Written By showed early pace and settled into third as the field was led around by the unraced triple-figure roughie Halvorsen and Mick Price’s well-fancied Fastnet Rock colt High Ratio ($5).

Childs had the eventual winner positioned three wide until the first turn, settled well and stalking the pace as Plague Stone sat midfield on the outside making up ground as the home straight approached.

With 250m to go High Ratio hit the front, but was quickly joined by Written By who stormed to the lead and won by a half-length from Plague Stone who tried to dig in but just couldn’t match the winner.

In a nice third was the Darren Weir-trained Native Solider ($8), a son of 2011 Blue Diamond Stakes winner Sepoy, who came off back-to-back summer sprint wins in easier company.

“We haven’t been really able to train the horse properly…barrier manners [have been an issue],” Begg said of Written By after the Prelude results.

“We’ve got on top of him now…which is just great because I think he’s a pretty serious horse.

“He’s pretty good once he gets in, it’s just loading up.”

Begg said he was most impressed by the horse’s will to win and was keen to back him up in the big one in a fortnight’s time if Written By pulled through the race in good order.

“Great determination this horse…he just wants to hit the line, he’s a real racehorse,” he said.

“We’ll see how he pulls up but I’d say he’s every likelihood [to run in the Blue Diamond Stakes].

Written By has firmed notably now in futures Blue Diamond Stakes odds at Ladbrokes.com.au paying $7 to win the $1.5 million classic over 1200m on February 24 back at the track.

2018 Blue Diamond (C&G) Prelude Results & Finishing Order

Caulfield Race 3 – 10/02/2018