Chris Waller bolstered his Caulfield Guineas hand when potentially valuable colts Diameter and Somethings Burnin’ fought out the finish of the Group 2 Stutt Stakes at Caulfield on Sunday.
Diameter edged out his stablemate when champion jockey James McDonald was able to squeeze through a late gap that carried him to a narrow victory.
The son of Brazen Beau got the bob in a thrilling three-way finish to get home from Somethings Burnin’, who is a son of another Darley stallion in Too Darn Hot.
It was a Caulfield Guineas audition for both colts and Waller was happy to see them put their hands up for a crack at better races.
“They’re two nice horses,” Waller said.
“He (Diameter) showed us in the autumn that he’s up to the better horses.
“He means a bit to us being a son of Brazen Beau, so it is good to have him for Godolphin.
“He (Somethings Burnin’) is a work-in-progress and he still gets a bit keen.
“We wanted to try him over a mile to see where he’s at but he’s likely a prep away so there’s a lot to look forward to.”
Diameter, the $3.20 second favourite, got home by a short-head from Somethings Burnin’ ($8) with the Ciaron Maher-trained Scarole ($10) just a head away third.
It was the second Stakes success for Diameter, who won the Listed Fernhill Stakes (1600m) in autumn and was placed behind stablemates Fireball and Campione D’Italia in the Group 1 Champagne Stakes.
McDonald was impressed with Diameter’s will to win when things got tough.
“It looked a bit dicey at the top of the straight, to be fair, but I had a willing partner to get us through that,” McDonald said.
“He was superior and he did a really good job.
“There’s a good race in a couple of weeks here for him and it has Group 1 next to its name, so I could definitely see him figuring in that.
“He’s on the way up.”
Diameter tightened into $11 for the $3 million Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m), which will be run at the venue of Sunday’s race on October 10, and is the same price for the Group 1 Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) at Randwick two weeks later.
