Hawkes eyes Doomben 10,000 glory with Devil Night
Wayne Hawkes holds high hopes that Blue Diamond champion Devil Night stands a strong chance in the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 (1200m) this Saturday.
Sired by Extreme Choice, the colt made a spectacular entry, emulating Redoute's Choice as only the second horse to take out the Blue Diamond at start two, yet remains without a win across his last seven efforts.
The trainer, operating with father John and brother Michael, portrays Devil Night as a calm and dedicated colt who has been performing well this season, finishing third at long odds of $81 in the William Reid Stakes to victor Jigsaw before pushing elite filly Tempted in the Arrowfield Sprint most recently.
"He's going super," Hawkes said.
"His form looks pretty good. We were tossing between coming to The Goodwood or going to Queensland for the 10,000, because he was already in Sydney we didn't want to bring him all the way to Adelaide.
When he ran third in the William Reid everyone went 'oh, he's going well' and he was always going well, he's just never had much luck and that form has stood up very well.
Then running second to Tempted and everyone's going, gee this is fair form."
Devil Night sits at $8 in Doomben 10,000 betting, trailing $2.80 top elect Jimmysstar, and a win in this open-age Group One would be priceless for the Yulong-owned colt, with the stable earmarking it early.
"He's just been poking along in Sydney, he's the best colt. He's got one of the best attitudes in a colt I've ever had," Hawkes said
"We have set him for this race, we've always had this race in the back of our minds so it's not an afterthought.
Even if some of the races aren't as strong as others, afterthoughts, most times you don't win."
Lady Of Camelot's ambitions for Royal Ascot are off after the Golden Slipper winner encountered a stingray injury at the beach Tuesday, excluding her from Saturday's action and raising uncertainties about her future races.
Consequently, runner-up favourite Napoleonic awaits a single further scratching for the 16-starter field, as Devil Night pulls barrier eight with jockey Ben Melham confirmed aboard.
Visit the online bookmakers to find the best betting markets for the Doomben 10,000.
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