The Tony McEvoy trained Run Naan heads up the eight horse field for the 2018 Listed $150,000 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Preview (1000m) for the colts and geldings at Caulfield on Saturday.
Run Naan, above, heads up the field for the 2018 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Preview for the colts and geldings at Caulfield. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.
Run Naan has drawn the inside barrier in the small field for the two year olds and will be ridden again by Andrew Mallyon who been aboard for his two race starts.
The Makfi colt is undefeated from both his starts and after claiming his maiden win over 1000m at Bendigo on October 21 went on to win the Group 3 $150,000 AAMI Maribyrnong Plate (1000m) at Flemington on the last day of the 2017 four day Melbourne Cup Carnival.
McEvoy sent Run Naan to the paddock following his win down the Flemington straight and the colt is now ready to kick off his 2018 Autumn Carnival campaign with the Group 1 $1.5m Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on February 24 his main target.
“He’s been home and had a break. He’s had a little freshen-up and he’s built back up,” McEvoy told the Herald Sun.
“He had a trial the other day at Werribee, where he cruised around. He’s ready to go.”
The Lindsay Park trained Long Leaf is also undefeated from two outings and has drawn towards the outside at barrier six with Damien Oliver taking the ride in the Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Preview.
Long Leaf scored a nose win on debut over 1000m at Morphettville at the end of October and then scored by the same margin in the Listed $120,000 Merson Cooper Stakes (1000m) at Ladbrokes Park Hillside at Sandown on November 18 and is also heading towards the Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes.
Another strong contender for the Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Preview is the Mathew Ellerton and Simon Zahra trained Ollivander who was a winner of his only start in an 1100m two year old plate at Caulfield on December 16.
Chris Symons will again ride Ollivander who has drawn the outside barrier in the eight horse field.
Leading trainer Darren Weir will saddle up the last start Geelong winner Native Soldier who has drawn nicely at gate two for Brad Rawiller.
Final field for the 2018 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Preview for the Colts and Geldings
| # | Last 10 | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | Weight | Hcp Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11x | RUN NAAN | Tony McEvoy | Andrew Mallyon | 1 | 57kg | 74 |
| 2 | 11x | LONG LEAF | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig | Damien Oliver | 6 | 57kg | 72 |
| 3 | 1 | OLLIVANDER | Mathew Ellerton & Simon Zahra | Chris Symons | 8 | 55kg | 68 |
| 4 | 561 | NATIVE SOLDIER | Darren Weir | Brad Rawiller | 2 | 55kg | 62 |
| 5 | 9x | INVINCIBLE LAD | Peter & Paul Snowden | Mark Zahra | 3 | 55kg | 61 |
| 6 | 9x | BOLD TYPE | John McArdle | Dwayne Dunn | 4 | 55kg | 60 |
| 7 | – | FANDRAL | Peter Gelagotis | Ben Melham | 5 | 55kg | – |
| 8 | – | ROBE DE FETE | Robbie Griffiths | Jye McNeil | 7 | 55kg | – |
