The Five Blue Diamond Wins That Still Resonate
Speed, substance and the moments that shaped the last 30 years
The Blue Diamond Stakes does not always produce the best horse of a generation.
But when it does, you feel it immediately.
Sometimes it is dominance. Sometimes it is courage. Sometimes it is the quiet unveiling of a stallion who will reshape the breed.
For mine, over the past three decades, five victories stand above the rest. Not just because they won, but because of how they won, the story behind the horse and what they became.
1999 – Redoute’s Choice
Trained by Rick Hore-Lacy | Ridden by Danny Nikolic
This was not just a Blue Diamond.
It was the unveiling of a dynasty.
Redoute’s Choice arrived at Caulfield with expectation and left as inevitability. From a wide draw, Jimmy Cassidy allowed him to stride forward and find rhythm. The tempo was genuine, the pressure real, yet the colt travelled like a horse in control of his own narrative.
When asked to quicken, he lengthened rather than scrambled. His final 300 metres were authoritative, balanced and professional. That composure is rare in February two-year-olds. Let alone a two-year-old having just his second start, having debuted the week prior. And, he was sauntering past another future great over the concluding stages: Testa Rossa.
It was the beginning of a great rivalry between Redoute’s Choice and Testa Rossa, the Dean Lawson-trained colt that had to settle for second in the 1999 Blue Diamond. They clashed later that year in the Vic Health Cup where Testa Rossa got the upper hand before one of the most stirring Caulfield Guineas’ in recent years when Redoute’s prevailed in the shadows of the post. The duo were also famously upset by 50/1 pop Spago in the Ascot Value Stakes at Flemington earlier that campaign!
Behind Redoute’s Choice stood one of racing’s truly colourful personalities. Rick Hore-Lacy trained with theatre and conviction. Confident, combative, unapologetic. He believed his horses belonged at the highest level and was never shy about throwing them in the deep end.
The Diamond gave him that stage.
What followed elevated the moment. Redoute’s Choice became one of the most influential stallions of the modern era. The Diamond was not merely a Group 1 win. It was the cornerstone of a bloodstock empire.
2011 – Sepoy
Trained by Peter Snowden | Ridden by Kerrin McEvoy
This was annihilation.
Sepoy did not simply win the Blue Diamond. He monstered them.
He settled comfortably on speed, travelled like a seasoned sprinter and when asked to extend, the race was over in a handful of strides. The margin told part of the story. The clock told the rest.
He ran the fastest Blue Diamond of the 21st century.
And it was no isolated spike.
He went on to win the Golden Slipper, confirming his superiority nationally, and retired as one of the most accomplished two-year-olds of the modern era.
His Diamond was not merely dominant. It was historically fast.
2004 – Alinghi
Trained by Lee Freedman | Ridden by Damien Oliver
If Redoute’s Choice was inevitability and Sepoy was destruction, Alinghi was class under pressure.
Not much went right for her in the Diamond.
She was slow out and had to settle toward the rear of the field. At Caulfield, in a high-pressure two-year-old Group 1, that is rarely ideal.
But when Damien Oliver eased her into the clear on straightening, she quickly showed why she was the domiant 2yo of her generation.
The acceleration was smooth rather than frantic. She balanced quickly and surged past them with authority. The deeper they went into the straight, the stronger she looked.
And like the very best Diamond winners, she confirmed it was no February illusion.
She went on to run third in the Golden Slipper to one of the best 2yos of the 21st century, Magic Millions and Triple Crown winner, Dance Hero.
In fact, that 2004 Slipper will go down as one of the best ever: Dance Hero, Charge Forward, Alinghi, Fastnet Rock the first four over the line!
Her Blue Diamond was not about control. It was about overcoming adversity and still proving too good.
2013 – Miracles of Life
Trained by Daniel Clarken | Ridden by Lauren Stojakovic
This one felt different.
Miracles of Life did not come from a powerhouse Victorian stable. Trained by Dan Clarken, she travelled from South Australia, already toughened by summer racing, and brought with her a female rider chasing her first Group 1.
Lauren Stojakovic rode with clarity and courage. She was not overawed by the challenge of riding a $3.20 favourite in a Group 1. She allowed the filly to balance up early from an inside draw before quickly getting off the fence well before they got into the straight. Once in clean air. this chestnut filly with the big white blaze quickly put the race to bed.
For Stojakovic, it was life-changing. For Daniel Clarken, it was validation that elite juveniles are not confined to the big-city conveyor belts.
It remains one of the most human Blue Diamonds of the modern era. It was the story more than the performance that elevates the 2013 edition.
2012 – Samaready
Trained by Mick Price | Ridden by Craig Newitt
Could’ve gone either of the Mick Price winners: Samaready or Extreme Choice – both of whom monstered their respective fields.
It was a great era for then fillies in the Blue Diamond. Samaready, Miracles Of Life, Earthquake in successive years.
Craig Newitt and Mick Price also made the race their own by winning it with Samaready and then Extreme Choice in the space of five years.
If Miracles of Life was grit, Samaready was brute strength.
She sat outside a hot speed and simply kept finding. The mid-race pressure was genuine. Yet when they cornered, she had another gear.
Analytically, her ability to sustain a long run from the 600 metres was elite for a two-year-old filly. It was not a short sprint. It was controlled, prolonged dominance.
She broke them.
