Blue Diamond backgrounder

No.1 - Ideas Man (Brazen Beau x Innovation Girl (Rubiton))

Trainer: Ciaron Maher and David Eustace

Jockey: Damian Lane

Ideas Man, bred by the Pope family, he was the third most expensive yearling sold in Victoria in 2019, purchased for $575,000 by Ciaron Maher Bloodstock from the Blue Gum Farm draft on behalf of an ownership group headed by Maher's long-time backer Colin McKenna. It's a family Maher knows well having trained this colt's half-sister, the stakes-winning Chloe In Paris (Exceed And Excel).

Their dam, Innovation Girl, was a terrific racehorse, winning 10 of her 15 starts, seven at stakes level. She was also twice placed in Group 1 races. And has produced seven winners from her eight foals to the track, with Chloe In Paris and Ideas Man both winning at Listed level. She died last October having not produced another foal since this colt.

No.2 - Hanseatic (Street Boss {USA}) x Itameri (Exceed And Excel))

Trainer: Anthony Freedman

Jockey: Luke Currie

Hanseatic is a Godolphin homebred, with his dam Itameri belonging to one of the most influential sprinting families in Australia. Itameri is out of Baltics (Fusaichi Pegasus {USA}), who is a half-sister to stakes-winning sprinters Magnus (Flying Spur), Wilander (Exceed And Excel), Scandiva (Fastnet Rock) and Arctic Flight (Flying Spur) as well as Helsinge (Desert Sun {GB}), the dam of the superstar Black Caviar (Bel Esprit) and her Group 1 winning half-brother All Too Hard (Casino Prince).

Itameri herself has produced one other winner, in Skagerrak (Dawn Approach {Ire}). She has a yearling Frosted (USA) filly and missed to Exosphere the following year, she visited that stallion again last year. Street Boss (USA) has had one previous Group 1 winner in Australia, Newmarket H. winner The Quarterback.

No.3 - Rathlin (Fastnet Rock x Wiener (More Than Ready {USA}))

Trainer: Ciaron Maher and David Eustace

Jockey: Ben Melham

Rathlin carries some of Australia's best bloodlines, being a son of Fastnet Rock out of a half-sister to star stallion Snitzel and Hinchinbrook in Wiener who is by More Than Ready (USA). From a pedigree perspective, in an old bloodstock cliché, he ticks all the boxes. Little surprise then that he cost Aquis $725,000 at last year's Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale.

Rathlin became Wiener's first stakes winner when he won the G3 Phelan Ready S. in December, while two of her other foals, Redoubtable Heart (Redoute's Choice) and Za Zi Ba (All Too Hard) have been stakes placed. He was bred by Neil Werrett and was raised and sold by Kitchwin Hills.

No.4 - Tanker (Pride Of Dubai x Calcatta (Tale Of The Cat {USA}))

Trainer: Ciaron Maher and David Eustace

Jockey: John Allen

Tanker gets the chance to emulate his sire Pride Of Dubai as a winner of this race and is the only one of the Coolmore stallion's first crop in the field. He was bred by Ian Smith and sold by Edinburgh Park for $170,000 to co-trainer Ciaron Maher at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale, with his breeders staying in the ownership.

He was the most precocious of Edinburgh Park's yearlings of his draft and that showed when he won the Listed Debutant S. at Caulfield last October, joining his half-sister Lady Naturaliste (Choisir) and his dam Calcatta as juvenile stakes winners. Calcatta delivered a Zoustar colt before her death in September.

No.5 - Tagaloa (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) x Vasilissa (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) )

Trainer: Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young

Jockey: Michael Walker

Youngsters with entirely Japanese pedigrees are somewhat of a rarity in Australia's top 2-year-old races. Conceived in Japan and foaled in Australia at Arrowfield, this colt made an impression at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale, selling to his future trainers for $300,000.

His pedigree would suggest he should improve with age and distance, with his dam a winner over 1800 metres and her half-sister Tricolore Bleu (Jpn) (Stay Gold {Jpn}) a stakes-winner as an older horse. His grand-dam Penkenna Princess (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) was a top-class 3-year-old filly who placed in a G1 Irish One Thousand Guineas. Vasilissa has a foal half-sister to this colt by Not A Single Doubt and visited The Autumn Sun last year.

No.6 - Rulership (I Am Invincible x Devoirs (Dehere {USA}) )

Trainer: Peter and Paul Snowden

Jockey: Mark Zahra

Rulership is rated an excellent chance to become I Am Invincible's first-ever 2-year-old Group 1 winner. Bred by Julian Sullivan and offered by Yarraman Park, he fetched $900,000 at last year's Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale to a syndicate headed by China Horse Club and Newgate.

Devoirs won a Listed 1600 metre race as a 3-year-old and her progeny has shown plenty of precocity specifically this colt's sister Jedastar, who won at Flemington on debut and ran second in a G3 Blue Diamond Preview. Devoirs' dam Velasco (Flying Spur) was a juvenile stakes winner as is her half-sister Debellatio (Smart Missile). Devoirs foaled a Hellbent filly in August and returned to that stallion last year.

No.7 - Glenfiddich (Fastnet Rock x Nothin But A Dream (USA) (First Defence {USA}) )

Trainer: Robbie Griffiths

Jockey: Glen Boss

Another Edinburgh Park bred and raised product, Glenfiddich was a $200,000 buy from last year's Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale for his future trainer and bloodstock agent Peter Ford. He hails from a family that Ian Smith has become enamoured with and is a blood brother to the multiple stakes-placed 3-year-old Eleven Eleven.

That family, which connects back to the second dam Darling Alice (USA) (Northern Flagship (USA}), recently produced a million-dollar Exceed And Excel colt at this year's Magic Millions Sale. Nothin But A Dream's only other foal to the track, Absolemm (Pierro), has been a winner, while the dam is currently in foal to Exceed And Excel.

No. 8 - Away Game (Snitzel x Elusive Wonder (Elusive Quality {USA}) )

Trainer: Ciaron Maher and David Eustace

Jockey: Jye McNeil

Former Maher Racing employee Hannah Mathiesen's first serious foray into buying yearlings in Australia has proven a spectacular success with Away Game having won the $2 million R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic in January. She picked out the Snitzel filly from Mill Park's draft on the Gold Coast with the help of agent Kerri Radcliffe for $425,000.

Bred by Mill Park, she is a sister to juvenile stakes winner Modern Wonder and one of five winners from Elusive Wonder, who was stakes placed herself as a 2-year-old and comes from a family which goes back to her granddam, Freedom Fields (Bluebird {USA}) who won a Blue Diamond Prelude. Group 1 winner Inference (So You Think {NZ}) also descends from that mare.

Elusive Wonder, now at Segenhoe, had her yearling filly by Not A Single Doubt fetch $580,000 at this year's Gold Coast Sale, while she also has a Merchant Navy foal filly and a went back to that stallion again.

No. 9 - A Beautiful Night (Night Of Thunder {Ire} x Lindyhop (Gonski) )

Trainer: Ciaron Maher and David Eustace

Jockey: Linda Meech

This filly has been an early flagbearer for her sire, who only spent one season in Australia for Darley. She is a homebred for Oskar Mustafa from Lindyhop (Gonski), who died in 2017, and produced just one other foal, the unraced Serious Reward (Reset).

Lindyhop was a winner of two races and one of six winners from Lindleywood Lass (Kenmare {Fr}), whose dam Twirled (Turf Ruler {NZ}) is from the same family as Group 1 winner Bonaria (Redoute's Choice) and Merchant Navy (Fastnet Rock).

No.10 - Aryaaf (Epaulette x Bulbulla (Shamardal {USA}))

Trainer: David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig

Jockey: Luke Nolen

A Shadwell homebred, Aryaaf followed in her dam Bulbula's steps when she won a 2-year-old stakes race on debut. Bulbula won the Listed Merson Cooper S. and would go on to be stakes placed twice more as a 2-year-old, while her half-sister and Aryaaf's three-quarter sister, Khulaasa (Epaulette) had a very similar record as a juvenile.

Precocity is in the pedigree, with this filly's grand-dam Taameer (NZ) (General Nediym), a multiple 2-year-old winner, including at stakes level. Bulbula has a yearling Sebring filly and Snitzel foal colt and visited Zoustar last year.

No.11 - Letzbeglam (Snitzel x Miss Charming (USA) (Forestry {USA}))

Trainer: Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young

Jockey: Brett Prebble

Bred by Phoenix Thoroughbreds, Letzbeglam was offered through Vinery Stud at last year's Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale and was snapped up for $280,000 by Cambridge Stud. She boasts a strong American speed pedigree with Miss Charming a six-furlong winner and a sister to multiple stakes winner Forest Grove (USA) and half-sister to G1 Del Mar Oaks winner Tout Charmant (USA) (Slewvescent {USA}).

Miss Charming's first foal, Belle Danseuse (USA) (Eskendereya {USA}), is a sprint winner in Canada, while Letzbeglam's sister Snazz 'n' Charm has been stakes placed. Miss Charming had a foal filly by Hellbent and visited Invader last year.

No. 12 - Muntaseera (I Am Invincible x Moosirra (Redoute's Choice))

Trainer: Ciaron Maher and David Eustace

Jockey: Damien Oliver

Bred and raced by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, Muntaseera hails from a family which has proven very successful for her owners. Both of the foals from Moosira, this filly and Maisaa (Zoffany {Ire}) have been winners. Moosira's dam Dizzy De Lago (Encosta De Lago), stakes placed as a 2-year-old herself, has produced UAE's champion miler Musir (Redoute's Choice) and South African stakes winners Merhee (Elusive Quality {USA}) and Moofeed (Duke Of Marmalade {Ire}).

Moosira's breeding record since Muntaseera has seen her produce a filly by her owner's Blue Diamond winning stallion Pride Of Dubai, while she visited I Am Invincible last spring.

No.13 - Personal (Fastnet Rock x Personify (Galileo {Ire}))

Trainer: David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig

Jockey: Craig Williams

It was no surprise to see Coolmore win the bid for this filly when she went through the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale last year, given she is by Fastnet Rock out of a Galileo (Ire) mare from a terrific Australian family. She cost $640,000 with significant residual value as a broodmare prospect in time.

Her stakes-winning dam Personify has produced six winners from six to the track, including stakes-placed trio Laser Flash (Redoute's Choice), Selectify (Redoute's Choice) and Trope (More Than Ready {USA}). Personify, who has not produced a foal since this filly, is out of the blue hen mare Procrastinate (Jade Hunter {USA}), who produced five stakes winners., including Group 1 winner Lasserfaire (Danehill {USA}).

No. 14 - Riverina Storm (Night Of Thunder x Morwell (Royal Academy {USA}))

Trainer: David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig

Jockey: Dwayne Dunn

This filly was picked up for $31,000 by Allhill Pty Ltd as a weanling from the Merrivale Farm draft at the 2018 Great Southern Sale. Her dam Morwell is a half-sister to stakes-winner Jestarella Boy (Rory's Jester) and stakes-placed Jolly’s Folly (Bluebird {USA}) and to the dam of the G2 Skyline S. winner Diamond Tathagata (Hinchinbrook).

Riverina Storm was bred by Fowler Thoroughbreds, who still have Morwell and she has produced a Zoustar, now yearling colt, who sold last year for $250,000, and a filly by Magnus before visiting Toronado (Ire).

No.15 - Fayerra - Scratched

No.16 - Difficult (All Too Hard x Stings (Fusaichi Pegasus {USA}))

Trainer: John Moloney

Jockey: Jordan Childs

A homebred for the Shannon family, Difficult is out of the speedy Stings, who was a 1000 metre winner and has already produced the sharp Stingray (Kaphero), who has been stakes placed, as well as the winner Itstings (Kaphero). Stings' final foal is a now yearling filly by Your Song.

While the family haven’t made a big impression in Australia, the third dam Negligence (GB) (Roan Rocket {Ire}) proved a remarkable producer in the Northern Hemisphere, with a host of Group winners descended from her, including champion filly Sky Lantern (Ire) (Red Clubs {Ire}), a four-time Group 1 winner in England and Ireland.