Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything

The path to the G1 Blue Diamond Stakes begins in earnest on Saturday at Caulfield, where 24 2-year-olds will line up in the hopes of securing a spot in the grand finale. Ten colts and geldings have accepted for the Listed Blue Diamond Preview (colts & geldings), and 14 fillies will start in their own sex’s G3 Blue Diamond Preview. But who is setting themselves up for the best success in the Blue Diamond?

Well trodden paths

In the last 20 editions of the Blue Diamond, the race has been won by 13 colts and seven fillies, only four of whom did not come through either the Preview or the G3/G2 Blue Diamond Prelude, which takes place this year on February 7. Six of those winners - two fillies and four colts - came through the Preview, and it’s worth noting that all of them won the Preview en route to their Group 1 victory. Hayasugi (Royal Meeting {Ire}) completed the feat most recently in 2024, also winning the Prelude on her way through.

Table: G1 Blue Diamond Stakes winners from the last 20 editions to have won a traditional Blue Diamond lead-up race

One filly and three colts from that group went on to compete in the Prelude; Sepoy in 2011 preceded Hayasugi in winning both legs, whereas Daumier in 2022 and Reward For Effort in 2009 both placed in the Prelude leg.

Miracles Of Life (Not A Single Doubt) in 2013 was freshened for four weeks between her Preview victory and her Blue Diamond win, a tactic that also worked for Reaan in 2008.

Last year’s Blue Diamond winner Devil Night (Extreme Choice) was one of the six colt winners in the last two decades to come through the Prelude, but not the Preview - he debuted in the Group 3 race, finishing second. Amongst the colts, only Sepoy and Written By have won the Prelude en route to their Blue Diamond wins.

Only three colts and one filly dodged the Preview and Prelude altogether, with Artorius in 2021 being the most recent winner to not compete in either leg.

But how do the Preview winners fare in general? Eight winners of the fillies’ Preview did not progress to the Blue Diamond, whereas only five colts did not continue to the main event. For those that did progress, the median finishing position for colts was 6th, and the median for fillies was 8th.

Graph: G1 Blue Diamond Stakes performance for Listed/G3 Blue Diamond Preview winners from the last 20 editions who progressed to the final

By that metric, it’s worth remembering four of those colts were Blue Diamond winners, delivering better than one in four odds for the Group 1. 2020 Preview winner Hanseatic fared the best out of the Blue Diamond nonwinners when finishing a close second to Tagaloa. Two Preview-winning fillies out of 12 to make it to the grand final won, offering slightly longer odds at one in six.

Colts bidding to stay unbeaten

At this early point in the careers of many of Saturday’s aspirants, every bit of extra experience counts. Six of the colts bound for Saturday have had one start ahead of their Preview attempts, led by Lindsay Park’s Listed Maribyrnong Trial winner Eurocanto (Per Incanto {USA}) and Ciaron Maher-trained metropolitan winner Milsons Point (Blue Point {Ire}), both of whom take on 2kg penalties for their victories.

Will Hayes from the Lindsay Park camp is feeling positive going into Saturday, knowing that the end goal is the Diamond itself with Eurocanto.

“We’re particularly pleased with his last trial at Werribee,” he said, referring to the colt’s easy win on January 16. “The Blue Diamond is certainly his grand final, so he will have to come on from this first-up run, but we think he has gone particularly well to date.

“We certainly haven’t screwed him down by any means, but he possesses enough to deliver first up.”

If he can land the Preview, the odds are promising for Eurocanto in the Blue Diamond, which Hayes acknowledged, “it’s (the Preview) a very good barometer for the main event.”

Milsons Point is one of four acceptors for Maher across the two previews, and Maher’s national assistant trainer Jack Turnbull is bullish about the colt’s chances.

“Milsons Point can do no wrong,” he told Racing And Sports on Thursday. “He was very good that day at Pakenham.”

Alibaba (Alabama Express) is the only other runner to arrive at the race with a stakes performance, having run third on debut in the Listed Merson Cooper Stakes behind Eternal Warrior (Extreme Warrior) in November. The Ken and Kasey Keys trainee wasn’t asked for much when having a tickover jump-out at the start of the week.

The raceday advantage

Of the 14 fillies lining up for the Preview, only five have had prior race starts, with Peter and Will Hulbert’s Lady Of Five (Hanseatic) the only winner, having won on debut at Eagle Farm in October, backing it up with a second placing before being put away in preparation for the Blue Diamond path.

Streisand (Magnus) might not have a win, but she is the best credentialled local, trained by Clinton McDonald. The filly ran second to Eurocanto on debut and again ran second to Calamari Ring (Street Boss {USA}) in the R. Listed Inglis 2YO Banner in November, both by tiny margins. She resumes off of a Cranbourne jump-out on January 12 where she finished third to colts’ Preview acceptor Invicto (I Am Invincible) - a Maher trainee that Turnbull referred to as a “very attractive and imposing animal” who is on the improve.

“She’s in great shape,” McDonald said. “She’s had a faultless preparation so far. She had just the one trial leading in, which was a nice, soft trial. We're still using Saturday over the 1000 meters to bring her on. Whatever she does Saturday, there's plenty of improvement to come. We think she's a quality filly.”

The raceday experience is a critical advantage for the filly, who gains no weight penalty from her two second placings.

“She's got the benefit of having those two race starts down the straight, and we feel that she'll be a lot better around the bend,” McDonald said. “So, we're looking forward to Saturday. Everyone with a runner, we all think they can win, and we're one of the main ones.”

Gin Twist (Home Affairs) heads to the Preview with a third placing under her belt in a Pakenham maiden, where she was only beaten a long head. Will Hayes said that the tough filly’s performance threw her hat in the ring for the Preview.

“The way that she came out of the run, we didn't hesitate to throw her in this race,” he said. “We think she's got plenty of upside and she's really developed nicely from that first-up run.”

Untapped talent

De Sonic Boom (Spirit Of Boom) in 2023 and My Gladiola (I Am Invincible) in 2025 are recent proof that, if you are classy enough, you can win the Preview on your first raceday appearance. Of the first starters, Grahame Begg’s Jadzia (Ole Kirk) excited onlookers the most with her Sandown trial on January 15 where she blitzed her opposition.

“She seems a nice progressive filly on what we’ve asked her to do, so far,” Begg told racing.com on Wednesday. “She couldn’t have done any more than what she did in the Sandown trial. It was really good to be able to take her away to a different venue, get away from Cranbourne, and give her some exposure away from there. The surface was great there, we were very happy. It was a very nice jumpout.”

He was quick to acknowledge the advantage those with a start had over the debutants; “We’re up against horses who have had the experience and they are always a bit of a stumbling block.”

Lindsay Park’s second filly acceptor La Gitana is another Home Affairs filly, like Gin Twist, and being out Hips Don’t Lie (NZ) (Stravinsky {USA}), Will Hayes hopes her pedigree can bring an edge to her debut performance.

“She's shown great speed in both her trials,” he said. “She's one that really convinced me she was ready, and I think the short 1000 metres really can suit her. Hopefully she can bring those trial performances to raceday. And if she can run up to her pedigree, that would be brilliant.”

Another blueblood Queen’s English (Snitzel) debuts for Anthony and Sam Freedman, having won two jump-outs - her first over Jadzia and a second over fellow Preview combatant I Am Aria (I Am Invincible).

“She’s got really good speed,” Sam Freedman told racing.com on Thursday. “She’s really straightforward, she’s been well educated, she knows her job, she’s a fast filly, as you would expect with her pedigree. She’s not overly big, she’s a really sharp 2-year-old type.”

Queen’s English is the third foal from dual Group 1 winner English (Encosta De Lago).

“Obviously, race day is very different with the pressure that you come under,” Freedman acknowledged. “So she’s got to tick the box of coping when the heat comes on, but I’m sure she’ll give a sight for a fair way.”

When the trial is hot

Amongst the colts, Freedman feels like Godolphin-owned High Alert (Street Boss {USA}) could be a serious contender on debut, but also that the best of him will come as the colt gains experience.

“He’s trialled up really nicely on two occasions,” he said. “His first trial, (where he was) ridden really quiet, he was an excellent winner, and then his last trial was against 3-year olds. I think the horse that beat him had a fair bit more experience, and he was still very good to the line.

“He’s a lovely horse, he moves really freely, he worked very strongly (on Tuesday) morning. We’ll ride him midfield, something like that, conservatively, he very much presents like one of those horses that gets better every time he goes to the races and Saturday is a good kick off.”

Angels Fury (Harry Angel {Ire}) is the filly that has the Maher stable most enthused going into the Preview. Jack Turnbull revealed that, despite being a debutant, the filly had worked between the stable’s Ballarat and Cranbourne stables and had won the last two of her three jump-outs in style.

“She has had the chance to see different tracks,” he said. “Thankfully she is very mature about it all and with everything we have done with her, she seems to be 'push button'. She had a particularly solid trial that day and we think that is the sort of pressure she could handle.”

Table: 2026 Listed Blue Diamond Preview (colts & geldings) final field

Table: 2026 G3 Blue Diamond Preview (fillies) final field