The Team Hawkes trained Nostradamus revealed his Blue Diamond Stakes credentials with a dominant debut win down the Flemington straight last Saturday.
Glen Boss rates Nostradamus a top Blue Diamond Stakes contender. Photo by Race Horse Photos Australia.
Ridden by three time Melbourne Cup winning jockey Glen Boss, Nostradamus was able to toy with his opposition over the 1100m to post a two and a quarter lengths win over Jarklin.
Boss was very impressed with the Medaglia D’Oro colt and rated him above the other Hawkes trained two year old Bugatty whom he won on over 1000m at Flemington January 11.
“He’s a better horse, no doubt,” Boss told the Herald Sun.
“Bugatty is a ready-made two-year-old. This bloke will get over 1400m and possibly a mile when he fully matures.
“It’s amazing when you get on these horses. You go two strides and you know you’ve got something underneath you.”
Boss was very impressed with the way Nostradamus accelerated when he asked for an effort and was certain that the colt had plenty more to offer if needed.
“If I’d put one around his tail he could have found another two lengths real quick,” Boss said.
Nostradamus’ performance forced bookmakers to shorten his price for the Group 1 $1m Sportingbet Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on February 22 from healthy double figure odds to $9.
The Peter Snowden trained Earthquake heads the market order at $3.80 ahead of Gerald Ryan’s unraced Encosta De Lago colt Rubick at $7 with the Gai Waterhouse trained Fighting Sun at $8 just ahead of Melbourne colt Chivalry at $8.50 while Bugatty is marked as $26 chance.
Earthquake has held the top spot since winning on debut over 1000m at Randwick on November 9 while Rubick created a huge impression by winning a 900m Rosehill barrier trial by seven and a quarter lengths on January 7.
Co-trainer Wayne Hawkes said that a Blue Diamond Stakes start was not set in concrete for Nostradamus but it was the logical option with his next race start likely to be the Group 3 $150,000 Sportingbet Blue Diamond Prelude (C&G) (1100m) at Caulfield on February 8.
“You would think the Blue Diamond Prelude and then into the other race (Blue Diamond), but lots can happen,” Hawkes said.
Racegoers will get to see Blue Diamond fancy Rubick in action for the first on Saturday with trainer Gerald Ryan nominating the colt for the 1000m two year old Plate at Randwick.
