First Acceptances are in for next year’s $1.5 million Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m), with a record 831 two-year-olds still in contention for the February 22 showpiece.
The figure betters last year’s total of 815 First Acceptances, with many of the country’s top stables prominent among those attempting to claim Victoria’s premier juvenile race.
Leading Caulfield trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace top the list of First Acceptors with 86, ahead of Peter and Paul Snowden, who submitted 77 entries of their own and one First Late Entry. Their filly Angel Helena is one of four to have been deemed worth paying the $5,500 First Late Entry Fee for, along with Nick Ryan’s Dundeel colt Cordyceps Three, an unnamed Written Tycoon x It’s Poets Day colt from the O’Gorman Racing Stables and Woodpark Stud’s Golden Gift runner-up See You Soon.
Lindsay Park (73), Godolphin (46) and Chris Waller (45) are all also well represented.
Grahame Begg will be hoping that history repeats itself, after accepting with a half-brother to his 2018 Blue Diamond Stakes champion Written By, named Wise Dragon, while Sydney’s premier trainer Chris Waller included a half-brother to retired superstar Shoals (Medaglia D’Oro x The Broken Shore) and the regally-bred Bucharest, by Deep Impact out of champion filly Miss Finland.
Boom sire I Am Invincible leads the way as the best represented stallion amongst those accepted, with no less than 55 of his progeny in Blue Diamond contention. Victorian stallion Written Tycoon is proving almost as popular, with 45 of his sons and daughters among entries, while the offspring of Snitzel (44) and Zoustar (42) also feature heavily.
The 2020 Blue Diamond will offer further incentive to those involved through the Inglis Blue Diamond Bonus. On behalf of Inglis, the $500,000 bonus will be split equally between catalogued vendor and supplier if a yearling sold at the 2019 Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale wins the 2020 Blue Diamond Stakes.
The 2020 Blue Diamond Stakes series commences with the Blue Diamond Previews on January 25 (1000m; Group 3 for fillies, Listed for colts and geldings), followed by the Preludes on February 8 (1100m; Group 2 for fillies, Group 3 for colts and geldings), ahead of the Group 1 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes over 1200 metres on Saturday, 22 February 2020.
Second Declarations for the 2020 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes close at 12 NOON, Tuesday, 7 January, 2020 ($660).
