Barber draws perfectly for Blue Diamond Stakes

Barber has opened a $5 favourite for the Group 1 Blue Diamonds Stakes at Sandown. (Photo by George Sal/Racing Photos)

A field of 16 two-year-olds will compete for the $2 million on offer in the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes on Saturday afternoon at Sandown.

Having drawn barrier nine, Barber – who has opened a $5 favourite with online bookmakers – looks well placed to build on an already impressive start to his career.

The Godolphin colt returned with a gritty first-up victory in the Group 3 Blue Diamond Prelude for the boys when getting the better of the likes of Little Brose and Brave Halo, both of whom he meets once again on the weekend.

One of the biggest challenges is expected to come from the Ciaron Maher & David Eustace-trained Steel City, who comes to this event with two runner-up efforts to her name to begin her career – including when running within a length of subsequent Inglis Millennium winner Learning To Fly last time out in the Group 3 Widden Stakes.

Peter & Paul Snowden send Don Corleone to the Group 1 event and will be hoping their juvenile colt can bounce back from a poor showing in the Pierro 2YO Plate at Randwick on February 11 when rolled as a $1.60 favourite.

Outside of Steel City, leading the fillies charge will be Exploring, who was a smart all-the-way winner in the Group 2 Blue Diamond Prelude (F) after getting the better of Party For Two, Extreme Threat and Cigar Flick – all of whom she comes up against once again.

Having won three of the past four Blue Diamonds, Anthony Freedman in partnership with Sam Freedman will send Blue Diamond Preview (F) winner De Sonic Boom to Sandown to help continue the stable’s strong recent run in the race.

Meanwhile, Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott will saddle up The Instructor – who, like race favourite Barber, will be out to defend an unbeaten career record.

Throw in the likes of Zulfiqar and Veecee, who have showed plenty to begin their respective careers, and the 2023 edition of the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes looks to be one of the more open editions in recent times.

2023 Blue Diamond Stakes final field & barriers

No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight
1	Barber	James Cummings	Jamie Kah	9	57kg
2	Arkansaw Kid	Ben & JD Hayes	Jye McNeil	4	57kg
3	Zulfiqar	James Cummings	Ben Melham	15	57kg
4	Little Brose	Ben & JD Hayes	Michael Dee	7	57kg
5	Brave Halo	Sean & Jake Casey	Damien Oliver	16	57kg
6	The Instructor	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Jordan Childs	6	57kg
7	Veecee	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Ethan Brown	14	57kg
8	Don Corleone	Peter & Paul Snowden	Mark Zahra	3	57kg
9	Exploring	James Cummings	Craig Williams	13	55kg
10	De Sonic Boom	Anthony & Sam Freedman	Daniel Moor	8	55kg
11	Party For Two	Damien Batters	Nikita Beriman	1	55kg
12	Steel City	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Blake Shinn	5	55kg
13	Dubenenko	Chris Bieg	Dean Yendall	11	55kg
14	Cigar Flick	Chris Waller	Craig Newitt	18	55kg
15	Picky	Leon & Troy Corstens	Damien Thornton	17	55kg
16	Extreme Threat	Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)	Blaike McDougall	2	55kg
17	Sensical (1E)	Peter Moody	Daniel Stackhouse	12	55kg
18	Beauty Rising (2E)	Phillip Stokes	TBC	10	55kg