Camelot bound for the Blue Diamond
Sydney’s flying filly Lady Of Camelot could be Melbournebound for the Group 1 Blue Diamond later this month.
Lady Of Camelot vaulted up the pecking order of trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott’s all-star juvenile team after her stunning firstup Widden Stakes win by nearly three lengths at Rosehill last Saturday.
The brilliant filly ran the Rosehill 1100m in a stunning 1m 2.53s – the fastest time ever by a two-year-old over the course and distance and only 0.02s outside the longstanding course record set by Westicaro in 2007.
Bott rated Lady Of Camelot the stable’s “benchmark filly” after the Widden and it was no surprise to see her firm to the third line of betting at $9 with TAB Fixed Odds for the $5m Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill on March 23. Her stablemate, Storm Boy, is favourite at $3.
Lady Of Camelot is into equal favouritism with Coleman at $4.50 for the Group 1 $2m Blue Diamond (1200m) on February 24 after it was revealed there is a likelihood the filly will contest Melbourne’s premier juvenile race.
“The Blue Diamond is the radar for Lady Of Camelot now,’’ Bott said.
“We will give her a week to get over her Widden Stakes run, we just want to see how she does and then make a call.’’
Waterhouse has had extraordinary success with two-year-olds during her training career including a record seven Golden Slippers, the most recent from Farnan (2020) in partnership with Bott, but the Blue Diamond has eluded her.
But Tulloch Lodge could be about to tackle the Blue Diamond in numbers later this month with Prost also a chance to go to Caulfield after his impressive win in last Saturday’s Canonbury Stakes.
“It’s doable for him but I have to speak with the ownership group and then plan what’s best for the colt,’’ Bott said.
Unbeaten filly Fully Lit and promising colt Trunk will contest the $2m Inglis Millennium (1100m) at Royal Randwick on Saturday with Bott revealing they are on trial for a Blue Diamond start.
“If Fully Lit or Trunk run well on Saturday, then both could go to the Blue Diamond,’’ Bott said.