Blue Diamond Stakes favourite Rubick will arrive in Melbourne this week in tip top condition for Saturday’s Group 3 $150,000 Sportingbet Blue Diamond Prelude (C&G) (1100m) at Caulfield.
Rubick is in tip top condition for Melbourne debut. Photo by Steve Hart.
Rosehill trainer Gerald Ryan has Rubick booked on a float to Melbourne tonight and will arrive in the southern capital in plenty of time to settle in for this weekend’s race.
Ryan couldn’t fault the Encosta De Lago colt following an early morning gallop at Rosehill today that saw the youngster reel off some impressive final sectionals.
“He worked enormous this morning,” Ryan told AAP.
“We galloped him over 800 metres and timed him at 51.5 seconds.”
“He ran his last 400 metres in 22.82s and last 200 metres in 11.33s and did it easily.
“He will go down to Melbourne overnight. He’s only ever travelled to the Gold Coast sales and back so I wouldn’t have a clue how he will handle the trip.
“But he is such a relaxed horse and nothing seems to bother him so I think he will be fine.
“I’m happy, Brenton is happy and Rubick is happy.”
Rubick is the reigning $3.10 favourite for the Group 1 $1m Sportingbet Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on February 22 ahead of Peter Snowden’s filly Earthquake who is marked at $4.50 and Gai Waterhouse’s filly Nayeli who has shortened in the betting after winning the Group 3 $135,000 Mal Seccull Chairman’s Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
Rubick lived up to his pre-race hype with an impressive two and three quarter lengths debut win over 1000m at Randwick on January 25 and was also ranked at the top of the market order at $4.40 for the Group 1 $3.5m Tooheys New Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill on April 5.
The Blue Diamond Prelude for the colts and geldings is shaping up as a significant guide with several well-credentialed two year olds stepping out for the last time before the Blue Diamond Stakes two weeks later.
Nostradamus from the Team Hawkes stable will be on show again after winning over 1100m at Flemington on January 18 and Chivalry from the Mark Kavanagh stable is resuming from a break following a win over 1000m at Moonee Valley on December 28.
Robbie Laing’s speedster Boomwaa is also nominated for the Blue Diamond Prelude but connections were toying with the idea of running him in the Group 1 $500,000 Black Caviar Lightning (1000m) at Flemington the following week before lining up in the Blue Diamond Stakes seven days later.
While Mohave from the Peter Snowden stable will get a chance to further enhance his Blue Diamond Stakes prospects after a last start win in the Listed $120,000 Sportingbet Blue Diamond Preview (C&G) (1000m) at Caulfield on January 25.
