Wayne Hawkes is confident Blue Diamond winner Devil Night will take some beating in the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 (1200m) on Saturday.
The colt by Extreme Choice burst onto the scene, becoming the second horse since Redoute’s Choice to win the Blue Diamond at their second start but has gone winless in seven runs since.
Described as a laidback, professional colt by Hawkes, who trains in partnership with father John and brother Michael, Devil Night has been in good form this campaign, running third as an $81 chance in the William Reid Stakes behind Jigsaw before giving star filly Tempted a race in the Arrowfield Sprint when last seen.
“He’s going super,” Hawkes said.
“His form looks pretty good. We were tossing between coming to The Goodwood or going to Queensland for the 10,000, because he was already in Sydney we didn’t want to bring him all the way to Adelaide.
“When he ran third in the William Reid everyone went ‘oh, he’s going well’ and he was always going well, he’s just never had much luck and that form has stood up very well.
“Then running second to Tempted and everyone’s going, gee this is fair form.”
Devil Night is rated an $8 chance in the Doomben 10,000 behind $2.80 favourite Jimmysstar, and as winning an open age Group One would be immensely valuable for the Yulong owned colt, the stable have targeted this race from a long way out.
“He’s just been poking along in Sydney, he’s the best colt. He’s got one of the best attitudes in a colt I’ve ever had,” Hawkes said
“We have set him for this race, we’ve always had this race in the back of our minds so it’s not an afterthought.
“Even if some of the races aren’t as strong as others, afterthoughts, most times you don’t win.”
Lady Of Camelot’s Royal Ascot plans were shelved after the Golden Slipper winner was stung by a stingray at the beach on Tuesday, ruling her out of Saturday and posing questions over her racing future.
It leaves second favourite Napoleonic still needing one scratching to make the field of 16, in which Devil Night has drawn barrier eight with Ben Melham booked to ride.
