Extreme Choice is currently available at 2016 Blue Diamond Stakes odds of $3 and jockey Craig Newitt believes that the talented colt is the horse to beat in the Group 1 event at Caulfield on Saturday.
Craig Newitt is confident that Extreme Choice can deliver him another win in the Blue Diamond Stakes. Photo by: Ultimate Racing Photos
Newitt was not aboard Extreme Choice when he took out the Inglis Nursery (1000m) at Royal Randwick on December 12 and the Group 3 Chairman’s Stakes (1000m) at Caulfield on February 6, but he has ridden the son of Not A Single Doubt in track work and he clearly has a very high opinion.
The Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes odds of Extreme Choice lengthened after he drew towards the outside of the field, but Newitt is confident that the wide draw will not be an issue and he believes the two-year-old will prove very tough to run down in the final stages of the $1.5 million event.
“He is going to race in the first four or five, there is no doubt about that,” Newitt said.
“He is a good beginner, he has good gate speed and it is probably not the end of the world for him.
“We will sort of sum it up in the first couple of hundred metres, he begins really good and on Tuesday morning we worked him with a mate, he sat a couple of lengths off it and was happy to dawdle along in behind.
“I think that he has a couple of strings to his bow and his best attribute is his turn-of-foot.
“If he has had a soft enough run in the first half of the race then it is going to take a good one to beat him I think.
“It is always a little doubt when they haven’t been over it, but he couldn’t have been more impressive in his first two starts.
“The way he is settling in his work and the way that he is settling in his races, I don’t think it will be a problem.”
Newitt revealed that Extreme Choice worked alongside Blue Diamond Stakes rival Flying Artie at track work on Saturday morning and he said that there was not a great deal between the two juveniles.
The talented hoop believes that Flying Artie is the biggest danger to Extreme Choice in the Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes, but he also has respect for Samara Dancer and Concealer ahead of the Group 1 event.
“I think that he is the one to beat,” Newitt said.
“I have a bit of respect for the two fillies, Samara Dancer has drawn a nice gate and Concealer has drawn a nice gate on paper, but probably not for her racing style.
“I think that they are the four main chances and it will be interesting in the first couple of hundred metres.”
Extreme Choice is currently available at 2016 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes odds of $3 and he is a clear favourite from Flying Artie ($4.40), Concealer ($6) and Samara Dancer ($7.50).
