The Royal Meeting (IRE) filly Hayasugi may finally have earned the respect she deserves when leading home a 1-2-3-4 for fillies in Saturday’s $2,000,000 Group 1 Sportsbet Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield.
Defying the pattern of the day, the Clinton McDonald-trained filly launched down the centre of the track from worse than midfield under Jamie Kah.
The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Lady Of Camelot looked likely to complete a banner day for her sire, Written Tycoon when setting up what looked to be a winning lead at the 200m, only to go down fighting by a long-head.
Another daughter of Written Tycoon, Kuroyanagi, confirmed the form of the Blue Diamond Prelude when narrowly beaten by Hayasugi, was a length back in third.
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Hayasugi became the first filly since Midnight Fever in 1987 to sweep the Blue Diamond Preview, Blue Diamond Prelude and Blue Diamond Stakes.
Bred by Mike O’Donnell at Fairhill Farm, Hayasugi advances her record to three wins and a second from five starts with earnings of $1,635,530. She was offered by Fairhill Farm at the Inglis Weanling Sale where she was snapped up by James Bester Bloodstock / Rathosheen Bloodstock / C Mok for just $47,500.
“She’s determined, she’s tough, and I thought I was stupid coming in today thinking she was 20/1 as her last run was fantastic,” McDonald said.
“She had no favours and again today, Jamie’s fiancé (Ben Melham) was trying to knock us down, but anyway, we knocked him off and found the line, it was great.
“It’s one of those races (the Golden Slipper) where I used to say to my mates, history’s got to repeat, Blue Diamond, Golden Slipper. We’re lucky enough now to have a live chance and I think the Golden Slipper will really suit this filly and the way she attacks the line, for a young two-year-old, her tenacity is second to none.
“She’ll go straight to the Slipper, I’m sort of following the same program we did with Courtza.
“People can then see you can train two-year-olds and win group ones. We’re only a small stable and we always seem to have a good horse, but today, I’d never been so confident coming to the races with a horse. It was a faultless preparation; she looked magnificent and it was just unreal.
“It was quite funny we’ve got a picture in our stables of Courtza winning the Golden Slipper and Mum got my young fella Harry to pull it down and she had number 11 on the saddle cloth, so we said there’s a bloody omen. I said we are a good thing today!”
Hayasugi is the third winner from four to race for the unraced Commands mare China Road, a half-sister to Bejewelled (Anabaa), a multiple stakes-placed winner of seven races.
China Road was sold online for just $10,000 in 2017. She missed in 2021 after being covered by Churchill (IRE) and North Pacific. She failed to conceive in 2022 after visits to Royal Meeting (IRE) and Prague, and was served by Jacquinot in November after missing to an earlier cover by Royal Meeting (IRE).
Hayasugi is the star turn from the first crop of Leneva Park’s handsome stallion Royal Meeting (IRE). The son of Invincible Spirit won both his starts at two, highlighted by the Group 1 Criterium International (1400m) at Chantilly.
