Godolphin colt Cohesion showed plenty of speed to lead from start to finish in the 2016 Blue Diamond Colts And Geldings Preview at Caulfield yesterday.
Cohesion was far from the fastest horse out of the gates in the Blue Diamond Colts And Geldings Preview, but he quickly mustered speed to take up the running from Capannello and Power Trip, while the well-backed Weatherly was trapped towards the tail of the field.
Jockey Ben Melham bided his time on Cohesion before he asked him for an extra effort at the 200 metre mark and the Lonhro colt had enough left in the tank to record a tough victory.
Godolphin’s Melbourne foremen David Charles said that the plan was always to ride Cohesion aggressively in the early stages of the Blue Diamond Colts And Geldings Preview and he was happy that the decision had paid dividends.
“It was John’s plan to go forward from the wide gate with race experience under his belt and his trial last week at Sandown,” Melham said.
“He was pretty ready to go for this race.
“The horse has had good experience in Melbourne while he’s been there.
“He got that little cheap 100-200m rest in the run and it showed in the end.”
Melham had not previously ridden Cohesion, who was ridden by James McDonald when he finished fourth behind Capitalist in the Listed Breeders’ Plate (1000m) at Royal Randwick on October 3, but he was impressed with the speed the two-year-old showed in the early stages of the race.
“He’s got really good natural barrier speed,” Melham said.
“He was able to cross them, we went quick to cross them.
“He come back under me in a good manner, relaxed well and had a good turn of foot in the finish.”
Godolphin have previously taken out the Blue Diamond Stakes with Sepoy (2011) and Earthquake (2014), while John O’Shea is chasing his first win in the race after missing the placings with Sampeah and Bantam last year.
Cohesion is currently available at 2016 Blue Diamond Stakes odds of $15 with Ladbrokes alongside Peter Moody-trained Hell Of An Effort, Tony McEvoy-trained Manuel, Blue Diamond Fillies Preview winner Sword Of Light and Blue Diamond Colts And Geldings Preview flop Weatherly.