Blue Diamond winner still on G1 Golden Slipper path
Blue Diamond Stakes victor Devil Night remains on course for a potential start in the Golden Slipper, with co-trainer Michael Hawkes confirming the colt is back in their Rosehill stable and progressing well.
The talented juvenile generated plenty of discussion at Randwick on Saturday as two of his former rivals—Tentyris, the Blue Diamond runner-up, and Tempted, who finished seventh—scored wins in the Todman Stakes (1200m) and Reisling Stakes (1200m), reinforcing the strength of the Melbourne form.
As a result, both horses now share a $7 quote in Golden Slipper betting, trailing only Wodeton ($5), who finished second in the Todman Stakes. Devil Night remains at $15 but is on track for a possible start in the $5 million Golden Slipper (1200m) on March 23.
“The Melbourne form is definitely holding up,” Hawkes said from Randwick.
“He’s here in Sydney. He’s in the stable and he is progressing well. We’ll take him one step at a time but he is a chance of lining up.
“We want to be 100 per cent happy, that’s what we’ve got to make our decision on, and everything is OK at the moment.”
Despite having raced exclusively in Victoria, where he also placed second in the Blue Diamond Prelude (1100m), Devil Night is familiar with Sydney’s clockwise racing, having completed early trials there.
Hawkes Racing could have another Slipper contender in Silver Slipper runner-up West Of Swindon, who is scheduled to run in the Pago Pago Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill next weekend as his final lead-up.
“He’s down to trial on Monday, whether we do give him a tick-over trial or we work him Tuesday, we’ll see how we go over the weekend,” Hawkes said.
“But he’s really good and he’s Pago Pago bound.”
Meanwhile, Randwick Guineas placegetter Swiftfalcon is being aimed at the Doncaster Mile (1600m), though his connections have yet to decide whether he will take a lead-up run in the Rosehill Guineas (2000m).
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