Samara Dancer will gallop in front of stewards before the 2016 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes after she was found with blood in a single nostril following her impressive victory in the Fillies Prelude at Caulfield on Saturday.
Samara Dancer will go into the Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes as one of the leading contenders. Photo by: Ultimate Racing Photos
Samara Dancer opened as a $15 chance ahead of the Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Fillies Prelude, but there was an avalanche of money for the Hinchinbrook filly and stamped herself as a leading Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes contender with an eye-catching victory.
A scare went through the camp of trainer Phillip Stokes after Samara Dancer was found with blood in one nostril, but a scope found that there was no blood in her lungs and she will be able to contest the Group 1 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on February 27 as long as she gallops in front of the stewards in the lead-up to the race.
“You can see the run in her and she will have a very quiet week just off the pony with a bit of swimming,” Stokes said.
“She will do just one bit of fast work now going into the Blue Diamond.
“She has to work over 1000 metres in front of the stewards.
“We scope all our horses before they travel and she scoped beautiful and clean on the Tuesday before.
“I had her scoped after the race and there was no blood in her lungs.
“It was more like a nose bleed, she probably just had to exert herself really hard for the first time in her life and it was like a little blood vessel or something like that.”
The 2016 Ladbroke Blue Diamond Stakes field is set to be packed full of quality and Samara Dancer is on the fourth line of betting behind Extreme Choice ($2.70), Flying Artie ($3.80) and Concealer ($8.50), but Stokes believes that the talented filly can deliver him a maiden race win in the $1.5 million event.
“They are very nice horses, but I don’t think there is much between the boys and the girls to be honest,” Stokes said.
“I thought Tony McEvoy’s horse was very good and definitely has to be a big show too.
“When you buy these two-year-olds just to get them there is a big thrill and we will do our best.”
The 2016 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes field will be released on Tuesday February 23 before the race is held at Caulfield on February 27.
