Godolphin’s wonderful Street Boss (USA) colt Hanseatic had plenty of reasons to lose his unbeaten tag in Saturday’s $200,000 Group III Neds Blue Diamond Prelude (c&g) (1100m) at Caulfield but just as he has done at his previous two starts, he attacked the line in the style of a topliner.
Ridden by Luke Currie for trainer Anthony Freedman, Hanseatic had just two of the 12 runners behind him on the home turn. The colt touted as the best two-year-old in Sydney, Rulership, led them up and looked set to take an unbeaten record to the Blue Diamond but Hanseatic would not be denied and he kept up a relentless gallop in the straight to defeat the $900,000 I Am Invincible colt by a neck with the $725,000 Fastnet Rock colt Rathlin a half-neck back in third.
It’s three stakes wins from three starts for Hanseatic following the Listed Blue Diamond Preview (c&g) and Listed Merson Cooper Stakes while contributing $322,500 to the Godolphin coffers.
“He’s still got to put it all together but I think he got Luke out of trouble there,” stable representative Sam Freedman said.
“Dad (Anthony) wanted him to run here today to get used to the surroundings because on Blue Diamond ay there will be a huge crowd and a big field.
“He was really good out the back today, he was good to saddle. He had a bit of a look around when he got in here and around at the barriers. He has got something a little bit different going on upstairs but we wouldn’t change anything at the moment.
“He had to be good to win from where he was because most of the winners so far today have been close to the rail. I thought if he ran an eye-catching second we’d be happy going to the Diamond but he really knuckled down that last 100m.
“He’s got that instant turn of foot. We had Lyre last year but he has probably got a bit more brilliance than her.”
Hanseatic is the third foal and second winner out of the winning Exceed And Excel mare Itameri who was purchased by Darley for $300,000 as a yearling in 2012.
A three-quarter sister to Group II MRC Schillaci Stakes winner, Wilander, Itameri is out of the Fusaichi Pegasus (USA) mare Baltics who is a half-sister to Magnus, Scandiva and Arctic Flight as well as Hellsinge the dam of Black Caviar and All Too Hard.
Itameri has a yearling filly by Frosted (USA). She missed to her cover by Exosphere in 2018 and was covered by the son of Lonhro again last spring.
