Written by Kit Gow
Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
After nominations closed on August 12, Melbourne Racing Club have received 1455 individual nominations for the 2026 edition of the G1 Blue Diamond Stakes, more than 20 less nominations than last year. The jewel in Victoria’s juvenile racing crown is set to take place on February 21 2026.
With 13,324 foals born in Australia in 2023 and a further 2744 born in New Zealand, 9.06% of the eligible age crop across both countries have been nominated for the race. Entries are sitting at their lowest point since 2018, where 1472 horses were entered; nominations for the 2020 race won by Tagaloa were the peak in that period, with 1774 horses nominated from the 2017 foal crop. A total 334 2-year-olds from this season’s nominations have been named.
Tagaloa | Standing at Yulong
A few of the most eyecatching juveniles entered include the $3 million Home Affairs colt out of Shout The Bar (Not A Single Doubt), Resolute Racing’s million dollar daughters of Away Game (Snitzel), The Actuary (Sebring), and Avantage (Fastnet Rock), and the $2.8 million Snitzel son of Humma Humma (Denman).
What stallions have been most represented?
I Am Invincible has yet to produce a winner of the Blue Diamond, although his offspring have won the lead-up races multiple times, and he tops the billing for the 2026 edition with 75 nominations. Bodyguard, I Am Immortal, Catch Me, and last season My Gladiola added lead-up races to their record. The balance is shifted overwhelmingly towards his fillies, with 48 entries as opposed to 27 colts and geldings.
I Am Invincible | Standing at Yarraman Park
| I Am Invincible | 75 | 48 | 27 | 121 | 62.0% |
| Snitzel | 63 | 23 | 40 | 113 | 55.8% |
| Home Affairs | 62 | 30 | 32 | 141 | 44.0% |
| Written Tycoon | 60 | 28 | 32 | 108 | 55.6% |
| Stay Inside | 54 | 32 | 22 | 122 | 44.3% |
| Zoustar | 50 | 25 | 25 | 122 | 41.0% |
| Wootton Bassett | 44 | 12 | 32 | 98 | 44.9% |
| Too Darn Hot | 42 | 16 | 26 | 88 | 47.7% |
| Farnan | 31 | 15 | 16 | 111 | 27.9% |
| Pinatubo | 31 | 14 | 17 | 87 | 35.6% |
| Ole Kirk | 30 | 15 | 15 | 99 | 30.3% |
| Lucky Vega | 29 | 20 | 9 | 116 | 25.0% |
| Tagaloa | 29 | 17 | 12 | 152 | 19.1% |
| Frankel | 27 | 15 | 12 | 33 | 81.8% |
| Exceed And Excel | 26 | 14 | 12 | 46 | 56.5% |
Table: Top 15 stallions by number of G1 Blue Diamond Stakes nominations
His son Home Affairs is the third most represented, with the late Snitzel separating them, posting one more nomination than Home Affairs with 63 nominations. Snitzel is also yet to post a winner of the race, but his sire son Lofty Strike and daughter Letzbeglam hit the ground running as juveniles with wins in the Prelude races.
Home Affairs was overwhelmingly represented in Golden Slipper nominations with 53% of his first crop making the cut, and 44% of his juveniles have been nominated for the Blue Diamond.
Home Affairs | Standing at Coolmore
Global supersire Frankel (GB) sneaks into the top 15 with 27 entrants, but it represents the vast majority of his crop, with 33 foals reported born in Australia on the studbook.
Another high percentage sire is the Extreme Choice, a previous winner of the race and the sire of last season’s winner Devil Night; 26 of Extreme Choice’s 41-strong 2023 crop, or 63.4%, have been nominated for the 2026 edition. His Golden Slipper-winning son Stay Inside is the fifth most represented sire by number of nominations, with 54 entrants.
Extreme Choice | Standing at Newgate
Fillies edge ahead of the colts
With seven of the last 10 editions of the race won by colts - all of whom now stand at stud - and a total 16 colt or gelding winners since the 2000/21 season, the Blue Diamond remains a stallion-making contest, but this year the split falls in favour of the fillies with 730 nominated for the event. There are a combined 725 colts and geldings entered for the event.
| Fillies | 730 | 50.3% |
| Colts | 706 | 48.5% |
| Geldings | 18 | 1.2% |
| Rigs | 1 | 0.0% |
Table: Gender split in 2026 Blue Diamond nominations
Who has the most nominations?
There are 105 individual organisations, studs, and trainers with nominations for the 2026 Blue Diamond. They had a huge hand in the Golden Slipper nominations, and Yulong Investments again top the table for the Diamond with 145 2-year-olds nominated - accounting for 10% of the total nominations.
It makes perfect sense to seek where you have had success before; Yulong stand previous winner Tagaloa and Devil Night will be welcomed into their stallion complex when he finishes his racing career.
| Yulong Investments | 145 |
| Ciaron Maher | 132 |
| Chris Waller | 118 |
| Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott | 111 |
| Lindsay Park Racing | 85 |
| Anthony and Sam Freedman | 72 |
| Annabel and Rob Archibald | 57 |
| Michael Freedman | 57 |
| Tony and Calvin McEvoy | 48 |
| Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr | 48 |
Table: Top 10 nominators by number of 2026 Blue Diamond nominations
Ciaron Maher comes in next with 132 nominated. He has yet to score in the event, but has come close in the past; Away Game was fourth by a length and a third in Tagaloa’s Diamond, and Loving Gaby (I Am Invincible) was beaten less than two lengths the year before.
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott have more nominations in the Diamond than for the Slipper, but they are pipped for third spot by Chris Waller with 118 nominations for the race.
Loving Gaby | Image courtesy of Sportpix
Godolphin came in third on the Golden Slipper nominations list, but that was posted before their transition to their new training model utilising a wider range of trainers. It is difficult to tell now from the nominations list what the exact spread of potential Godolphin runners in the Diamond would be.
