Trainer Bjorn Baker has confirmed that his much vaunted, unbeaten two-year-old colt Warwoven will not be a runner in the Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield on February 21.
The son of Sword Of State had been well in the betting market for the $2 million feature, but Baker has reassessed that option and will now bring Warwoven back in after a short break with the focus now switching to the Golden Slipper at Rosehill a month later, which allows Baker more time to prime Warwoven for the $5 million showpiece event of the two-year-old racing calendar.
The tide can turn so quickly in racing and disappointment can swamp anticipation in the blink of an eye … and that has certainly been the case for the connections of Warwoven.
Just three weeks ago Warwoven was being spoken about as an unbeatable favourite in the $3 million Magic Millions Classic, before failing a stewards’ vet fitness inspection and being scratched from that assignment at the eleventh hour due to lameness.
Now the $2 million Blue Diamond Stakes option has fallen by the wayside … big money stake earning options that are only on the table once for the two-year-olds.
But the well-being of the horse is always the first and prime consideration and Baker is playing hard and fast by that rule … to the degree that even the Golden Slipper is still only a possibility.
“We’ll try to get him to the Slipper, but we’ll just take it one step at a time,” Baker told Racenet.
“If we have any doubts with him, we’ll put him straight out.”