Sportsbet Blue Diamond Stakes (Group 1)

JAMIE Kah landed her 10th Group 1 on Hayasugi in Saturday’s A$2 million Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield, the richest 2YO race in Victoria.

Sheltered from the early dash in the 1,200 metres, the Royal Meeting filly sat two and three-wide, and out of trouble for Kah, albeit in the final third of the 16-horse pack.

Around the bend, and importantly, maintaining her rhythm as others searched for openings, Hayasugi still had six to get by with 200 metres to run. With a deftly timed sprint to the line it was Kah at her best, lifting Hayasugi to win by a neck over a pair of Written Tycoon fillies Lady Of Camelot and Kuroyanagi a further length back. Hayasugi remarkably was a $15 chance having won both lead-up races, the Group 3 Blue Diamond Preview and the Group 2 Blue Diamond Prelude.

Happy enough

“I just wanted to keep her out of trouble and on the turn we just lost a couple of lengths but I was happy enough where we were,” said Kah. “It wasn’t going to be a pretty race, and it wasn’t, but I just can’t believe she’s done that.”

Having now banked A$1.6 million in earnings from five starts, Hayasugi will travel to Sydney.

“She’ll go straight to the (Golden) Slipper,” said trainer Clinton McDonald whose late father, Ross, completed the Blue Diamond/Golden Slipper double with the filly Courtza in 1989.

“We’re lucky enough now to have a live chance and I think the Golden Slipper will really suit this filly and the way she attacks the line. For a young two-year-old, her tenacity is second to none.”

Bred by Mike O’Donnell and former Coolmore general manager Michael Kirwan, Hayasugi was purchased for A$47,500 at the Inglis Australian Weanling Sale.

Lamaro’s Hotel Futurity Stakes (Group 1)

IT was a case of rinse and repeat for Mr Brightside as he won his second Caulfield Group 1 over 1,400 metres in two weeks.

Sent out in the red at $1.50 in the Futurity Stakes, Craig Williams had to be wary as the American-bred Buffalo River tried to upset proceedings by skipping away to a seven-length lead at the half-way point.

As he’s displayed many times, Mr Brightside is a battle-hardened veteran who loves a fight. The six-year-old Bullbars gelding hauled in a tiring Buffalo River, who held on for third, as the Street Boss gelding Pericles fell a length and a half short in running second.

“It’s so humbling every time we’re the ones that get to put a saddle on him because when he can just go out and run those sort of races, you’re gobsmacked every time,” said co-trainer Will Hayes.

“Those were great tactics (Buffalo River), they really made everyone think in the race.”

Mr Brightside now has six Group 1 wins to his name having saluted 16 times in 31 starts.

“Mr B is just an amazing horse, a great athlete and he’s got no BS in him,” said Craig Williams. “He’s a killer, he’s a winner and he’s a pleasure to ride.”

Sportsbet Oakleigh Plate (Group 1 Handicap)

HAVING tuned up with a listed win over 1,000 metres at Caulfield two weeks earlier, the South Australian Queman gifted the father and daughter training combination of Shane and Cassie Oxlade their biggest racing highlight with a maiden Group 1 win in the Oakleigh Plate.

Jumping from barrier two in the 1,100 metre handicap, Queman, with Harry Coffey up, sat box-seated behind the pace-setter Hypothetical to have first crack at the lead on straightening.

As the challengers from behind didn’t materialise, the race became a dogfight between the pair as they matched strides right to the line. The photo was a nose in favour of the Mint Lane gelding Queman ahead of the Pride Of Dubai mare Hypothetical with third going the way of the Shalaa gelding Mornington Glory, a length and a half back.

“I’ve had some nice horses but to get one to come here on Oakleigh Plate day and pull it off, it’s pretty special,” said Shane Oxlade. “You get out of bed every day to train a good horse and to win a group race, or a Group 1, it is just the pinnacle of anything in our sport isn’t it?

“I don’t know if it’ll change much in terms of more horses or less horses, to be honest it doesn’t worry me, I’m happy doing what I’m doing. We have 12, 14, sometimes 16 in work. It’s a really small team at home. it’s just good for everyone, it’s a big kick.”

New Zealand

Trackside Otaki-Maori WFA Classic (Group 1)

OUT of the winner’s circle since October 2022, the Simon and Katrina Alexander-trained La Crique added a second Group 1 to her wares when winning Saturday’s Otaki-Maori WFA Classic at Otaki.

Over 1,600 metres, it was La Crique back to her best, accelerating sharply off the soft track to power away with a two-length win over the Sacred Falls gelding Aegon with the Pride Of Dubai gelding, and race favourite, Desert Lightning in third.

“Inch by inch, we’ve improved her, tried to get her back on track and tried to get her back to the horse that we knew as a three-year-old,” said Katrina Alexander,

“I was pretty happy with her during the week. I ride her in all of her trackwork, and I really felt that we were getting her personality back. So this is hugely satisfying and we couldn’t be happier.”

La Crique had battled a hoof split most of last preparation. “Unfortunately, it blew out of the coronet, and the hole that came out split horizontally around the coronet’” added Alexander. “She’s put up with a lot. She’s been brave, she’s got here, and she’s just matured so much as well. We’re absolutely thrilled.”

Ridden by Matthew Cameron, La Crique, by Vadamos out of a Dubai Destination mare, has now won five of 32 and is in the frame to travel to Australia for some races this autumn.

“I’d never sat on her before, but she makes my job easy,” said Cameron. “My job was to follow the favourite, and she just tracked along beautifully. She’s so athletic and she’s a little machine. She felt super.”

THE Karaka sale complex played host to the inaugural New Zealand Bloodstock Kiwi slot auction on Tuesday night.

New Zealand and international buyers were present for the offering of nine slots for New Zealand’s richest ever race, the NZ$3.5 million NZB Kiwi. To be held on March 8th next year over 1,500 metres, the race is open to three-year-olds bred in New Zealand or sold at a New Zealand Bloodstock sale.

The field size will be 14 with stakes rising to $4 million in 2026 and then $4.5 million in 2027, added to the prize is a pool of $1 million for the first three home if they win a designated lead-up race.

With the reserve set at $450,000 for all slots, the first lot offered opened to a bid of $600,000 before being knocked down to Singapore businessman John Chew for $725,000.

Kerri Spence Bloodstock and Clotworthy Racing, Wexford Stables, Daniel Nakhle, Te Akau Racing, Ozzie Kheir, Entain New Zealand, Andrew Forsman and Cambridge Stud also secured slots with an average of $691,66 and aggregate of $6.225 million for the nine slots offered.

Never seen before

“At the end of the day it is $3.5 million in prize money, plus a $1 million bonus. New Zealand has never seen anything like this before,” said Cambridge Stud’s Brendan Lindsay.

The remaining five slots for the NZB Kiwi have been allocated to Auckland Thoroughbred Racing, Waikato Thoroughbred Racing, RACE, and the Canterbury Jockey Club, with New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing holding the final slot for promotional purposes.

“It’s the first time that a slot race has been auctioned anywhere in the world,” said New Zealand Bloodstock’s Andrew Seabrook.

“Everyone went into the unknown and what unfolded was quite incredible. It’s great to see global participation and there is an amazing buzz here at Karaka.”