Two of Victoria’s biggest stables are set to dominate the field for the state’s richest two-year-old race, the Blue Diamond Stakes.
After third acceptances last week for the $1.5 million Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield on February 22, the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace stable has 17 of the 90 juveniles still in contention.
Maher says they could have as many as six or seven two-year-olds in the race.
Lindsay Park is another stable likely to have multiple runners with three already confirmed and the team will attempt to add to that number in divisions of the Blue Diamond Prelude at Caulfield on Saturday.
Personal, Aryaaf and Hard Landing are already confirmed for the Blue Diamond while Riverina Storm, Fixated, Bella Nipotina and Frederick The Dane remain in contention.
Lindsay Park invariably has multiple runners in the two-year-old showpiece.
They had two runners last year when second with Lankan Star while in 2018 when they again came second with Enbihaar, they saddled four runners.
Catchy, the 2017 winner was one of six runners while in 2008, when Reaan was successful, David Hayes saddled four runners.
Hard Landing, who won the Maribyrnong Stakes at Flemington in the spring, will contest the colts and geldings Prelude on Saturday while Riverina Storm will attempt to improve her Blue Diamond Stakes position in the fillies division following a Geelong debut win on January 26.
Personal, an impressive winner over the 1100m course at Flemington on January 18, will head straight to the G1 Blue Diamond without another run.
Co-trainer Tom Dabernig said it was the stable’s intention to give the filly a trial at Wodonga on February 11.
“It’s probably not conventional with five weeks between runs, but we’ll give her a trial to keep her up to the mark,” he said.
“We were just worried if she ran in the Prelude it might have been too much.”
Dabernig said depending on what Personal does in the Blue Diamond she could then go on to run in the Sires’ Produce Stakes at Flemington.
Fixated and Bella Nipotina are bound for the $2 million Inglis Millennium (1100m) at Warwick Farm on Saturday and depending on their performances could return to Melbourne for the Blue Diamond.
