Open Race for Turf Diamond
This week in Norway sees the open division of the Grade One G.S.R. Diamond for two-year-olds over a mile on the turf, where the going is firm. There is a full field of fourteen for this race.
The betting market is wide open. Favourite at 7/1 is Skills In Magic, a colt by Denon (Pleasant Colony) out of Queen Pedal, a mare by Sadler’s Wells. Bred and trained by peeps9, he has won three of his five races to date, winning his debut in a Maiden Special Weight race over six furlongs, then finishing second in an ungraded Stakes and a Grade Three, both over six and a half furlongs. In his latest two starts, he won an invitational Stakes over seven furlongs, then followed up in The CANDLE QUE(IRE) Challenge, a Stakes race over a mile and half a furlong on good ground, posting a speed figure of 82. H. Knott will be his jockey here.
The Generous Elder, bred and trained by supertoy7, has run only four times previously. On his debut, this colt, by Grand Slam out of an Event Of The Year mare, won a Maiden Special Weight race over five and a half furlongs. He was then stepped up to Stakes company, where he won again over six furlongs with a speed figure of 77. Since increasing the distance of his races to six and a half furlongs, he has done best when finishing second, beaten a length, last time out in a Stakes race, when he recorded a speed figure of 87. R. Steiner will be in the plate here.
Also well-fancied is Awesome Angel, who is bred and trained by sheik692. He has won five of his six races to date. The only time he lost was when fourth in a Stakes race over six furlongs on the dirt. After that race, he was switched to turf, where he found success in Stakes races over five and a half furlongs. Last time out, he won a Stakes race over a mile and half a furlong, when he put up a speed figure of 90. His jockey L. Dolson will be hoping to improve his current winning percentage with this one.
Drawn on the outside is Always Improving, a colt by Trempolino out of Not Improving, a mare by Silver Deputy, who was bred by dodoben and runs for rharfo7. It is to be hoped that this colt lives up to his own name rather than his dam’s, and so far this seems to be the case. After winning his Maiden Special Weight race on his second start, over six furlongs on good dirt, he jumped into Stakes company, where he finished second, beaten one and a quarter lengths, again over six furlongs. In his last two races he has switched to turf, winning an Allowance for non-winners of two over seven furlongs, then winning a Stakes race over seven and a half furlongs by a quarter of a length. K. Dauenhauer is up.
The inside draw goes to Raised On Royalty, a colt by Storm Cat out of the Forty Niner mare Matter Of Desire, who is bred and trained by alybobbob2. After winning his Maiden Special Weight over six furlongs at the third time of asking, he was stepped up into a Stakes race over the same distance and finished third, beaten one and a quarter lengths. Next, he stepped up to a mile in Allowance company, and won on his second attempt at this level on good ground, posting his best speed figure of 80. Last time out, in The CANDLE QUE(IRE) Challenge, he tried to make all the running, but was beaten into second by three lengths by Skills In Magic. His jockey here is G. Pickett.
Dynamite Secret, by Dynaformer out of a Secreto mare, is bred and trained by outthere. He has only run four previous times, winning his debut at Maiden Special Weight level over six furlongs on dirt, then finishing only fifth in an Allowance race over the same distance. Next time, switched to turf, he returned to winning ways in a Stakes race over six furlongs, then, last time out, finished a creditable fourth in a Grade Three event over seven furlongs on the turf, posting a speed figure of 79. R. Rigdon will partner him here.
Vermont Victory, a grey colt by Two Punch out of the Theatrical(IRE) mare Two Mile Victory(IRE), was bred by david37373 and runs for wtas02. The most successful of his dam’s offspring to date, he has run in just four previous races, he began his career on dirt, but was switched to turf when victory had not been forthcoming. The change of surface worked straight away, and he won a Maiden Special Weight race over six furlongs. Last time out, he recorded a speed figure of 82 to win a Stakes race over seven and a half furlongs. S. Newby will be his jockey here.
Sharp Bend(IRE), a colt by Refuse To Bend(IRE) out of Queen Deputy, a mare by Deputy Minister, is bred and trained by bodgit. Despite the fact that he had not won in four attempts at Maiden Special Weight level, he was tried last time out in a Grade Three event over seven and a half furlongs, which was rewarded with a win and a speed figure of 84. He has the assistance of J. Ruckriegel in the saddle.
First Refusal(IRE), another colt by Refuse To Bend(IRE) out of Audi Five K, a mare by Kris S., was bred by funster2 and runs for theatrical. Drawn one off the rail here, he has won two of his six previous starts. On his debut he took an owner-restricted Allowance over five and a half furlongs, then finished third, beaten four and a half lengths, in an owner-restricted Stakes race over six furlongs. The next time, he returned to five and a half furlongs to win a Stakes race, but struggled in his next two races over six and a half furlongs, one a Grade Three and the other on the dirt. Last time out, he finished second, beaten quarter of a length, in a Stakes race over seven and a half furlongs. R. Gibson will be in the saddle.
Wonder Lawn, by Fort Wood out of a mare by Roy, is bred and trained by safbred. He has run just four times previously, winning his Maiden Special Weight at the second time of asking over six furlongs, then stepping up to Stakes level, where he finished second, beaten three-quarters of a length, over six and a half furlongs. Last time out, he recorded a speed figure of 84 to finish second, beaten a head, in a Grade Three event over seven furlongs. His jockey here will be C. Miller.
Very Silver, a grey colt by Silver Ghost out of a mare by Secretariat, was bred by cpb and runs for acote. He has run only three times previously, disappointing in his debut on the dirt course, then winning a Maiden Special Weight over seven and a half furlongs on the turf. Last time out, he finished second, beaten one and a half lengths, in a Grade One event over seven furlongs on good turf, recording a speed figure of 88. G. Kehl will be in the plate.
Japans Last Hope(JPN), by Eishin Masamune(JPN) out of a mare by Seattle Sleet, is bred and trained by lodog20. He has won four of his six races to date, five of which have been on the turf. After winning his Maiden Special Weight race over five and a half furlongs on good turf on his second start and turf debut, he followed up with a win at Allowance level over the same distance, then in a Stakes race over a furlong further. He then finished third, beaten three-quarters of a length, in a Grade Three event over seven furlongs, when he recorded his best speed figure of 83. Last time out, he won a Stakes race over six furlongs. H. Conway is the jockey.
Shakelo, a colt by Sakhee out of a mare by Machiavellian, is bred and trained by triska. He won at Maiden Special Weight level at the second time of asking over four and a half furlongs on the dirt, then after disappointing at Allowance level was switched to turf, where he finished in mid-division in an Allowance race over six furlongs. When stepped up to a mile, he won an Allowance race for non-winners of two, recording his best speed figure to date of 80. Last time out, he was beaten two lengths to finish second in a Stakes race over seven and a half furlongs. His jockey here will be J. Gibbs.
The outsider is Change O’ Luck(AUS), a colt by Lucky Owners(AUS) out of a mare by Marscay(AUS), who was bred by galaxyy2 and runs for sabalou. After finishing third in owner-restricted Maiden Special Weight and Stakes races, he won his Maiden Special Weight over five and a half furlongs at the third time of asking. He then stepped up to Stakes company, where he finished third, beaten two and a half lengths, over six and a half furlongs. Next time, in an owner-restricted Allowance, he came from behind to win over the mile. Last time out, he stepped back in distance to six furlongs to win a Stakes race. K. Shirley is up.
So it is an open race, with several runners having won over the mile, or looking as if they could. The eighth (Awesome Angel) and ninth (Skills In Magic) horses in the two-year-old turf colts classic division are in this race, so the result here could affect the rankings in the top ten of that list.