The first juvenile Group I of the season will be run at Sandown on Saturday with a full field of 16 plus emergencies accepting for the $2million MRC Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m).
The powerful Godolphin stable have three runners and all are stakes-winners in Exceed and Excel colts Barber and Zulfiqar and the Brazen Beau filly Exploring, who is from a daughter of Exceed and Excel, the sire of two previous Blue Diamond winners Earthquake and Reward for Effort.
Barber and the Ciarion Maher and David Eustace trained filly Steel City headed up betting when the final field markets were published at around the $5 mark and they are expected to remain at the head of markets after drawing favourably in gates nine and five.
Steel City is still a maiden after two starts, but those two runs were second placings to Red Resistance and Learning to Fly, so the half-sister to dual Group I winner September Run has the potential to cast off maiden status in style and credit her young sire Merchant Navy with his first stakes-winner.
No. – Horse (Sire) – Trainer – Jockey – Barrier – Weight
1 – BARBER (Exceed and Excel)– James Cummings – Jamie Kah – 9 – 57kg
2 – ARKANSAW KID (Harry Angel (IRE) – Ben & JD Hayes – Jye McNeil – 4 – 57kg
3 – ZULFIQAR (Exceed and Excel) – James Cummings – Ben Melham – 15 – 57kg
4 – LITTLE BROSE (Per Incanto (USA)– Ben & JD Hayes – Michael Dee – 7 – 57kg
5 – BRAVE HALO (Brave Smash (Jpn) – Sean & Jake Casey – Damien Oliver – 16 – 57kg
6 – THE INSTRUCTOR (Russian Revolution) – Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott – Jordan Childs – 6 – 57kg
7 – VEECEE (Capitalist) – Ciaron Maher & David Eustace – Ethan Brown – 14 – 57kg
8 – DON CORLEONE (Extreme Choice) – Peter & Paul Snowden – Mark Zahra – 3 – 57kg
9 – EXPLORING (Brazen Beau) – James Cummings – Craig Williams – 13 – 55kg
10 – DE SONIC BOOM (Spirit of Boom) – Anthony & Sam Freedman – Daniel Moor – 8 – 55kg
11 – PARTY FOR TWO (Sidestep) – Damien Batters – Nikita Beriman – 8 – 55kg
12 – STEEL CITY (Merchant Navy) – Ciaron Maher & David Eustace – Blake Shinn – 5 – 55kg
13 – DUBENENKO (Russian Revolution) – Chris Bieg – Dean Yendall – 11 – 55kg
14 – CIGAR FLICK (Churchill (IRE)– Chris Waller – TBA – 18 – 55kg
15 – PICKY (Cable Bay (GB) – Leon & Troy Corstens – Damien Thornton – 17 – 55kg
16 – EXTREME THREAT (Extreme Choice) – Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr) – TBA – 2 – 55kg
EMERGENCIES
17 – SENSICAL (Zoustar)– Peter G Moody – TBA – 12 – 55kg
18 – BEAUTY RISING (Deep Field) – Phillip Stokes – TBA – 10 – 55kg
