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Boom Perth colt adds spice to this year’s Blue Diamond series
The Blue Diamond Stakes picture will be knocked into shape this Saturday and rarely has it been so unclear this close to the Group 1 finale.
Uncertainty around the ambitions of some of the horses towards the head of betting is one thing punters have had to factor in, along with formlines they don't normally need to consider.
Western Australia has an abnormally strong Diamond hand and will be represented in both of this Saturday's Preludes, including a horse who has posted ratings rarely seen in Perth.
Brave Halo posted a Timeform rating of 105 in the most recent of his three wins, which compares favourably with not only some of the favourites for the February 25 Blue Diamond, but also WA's benchmark two-year-olds of recent seasons.
"Brave Halo is easily one of the highest rated two-year-olds we've ever seen in WA pre-Christmas," Racing And Sports senior handicapper Simon Dinopoulos said of the son of Brave Smash who was a $135,000 buy at the 2021 National Weanling Sale on the Gold Coast.
"It's very unusual in Perth to see a two-year-old this fast, this early.
"By comparison, Amelia's Jewel was rated 107 at the end of her two-year-old season as was Whispering Brook and they remain the highest rated two-year-olds in WA in the last 10 years.
"He's head and shoulders ahead of what he has raced to this point so it will be very interesting to see how he goes when he starts racing horses of equal ability."
The highest rating returned by juveniles so far this season is 109, by Empire Of Japan (Snitzel) in the Breeders Plate and Skirt The Law (Better Than Ready) in the Magic Millions 2YO Classic on the Gold Coast, and neither of them are Blue Diamond-bound.
Nor is the owner of the season's 108 performance, Red Resistance (Russian Revolution).
The only juvenile in Diamond contention to have gone higher than Brave Halo's peak figure is King's Gambit (I Am Invincible), who went 106 when winning the Debutant Stakes in October but rated 103 in his first-up performance behind Red Resistance.
The Instructor (Russian Revolution) won the Blue Diamond Preview in 105, while Barber (Exceed And Excel) and Steel City (Merchant Navy), who sit one and two in some Blue Diamond markets, have peak ratings of 104 and 103 respectively.
Shaddow Fear (Sioux Nation) will be WA's runner in the fillies' Prelude and she is unbeaten in two starts with a peak rating of 92.
That's one pound higher than another interstate filly – Party For Two (Sidestep) – who comes to Melbourne after two big wins in Queensland.
De Sonic Boom (Spirit Of Boom) is the highest-rated filly entered for the Prelude, having gone 103 to win the Preview, while the resuming Charm Stone (I Am Invincible) brings a rating of 100 into the race after her win at Flemington during Melbourne Cup Week.
