Anthony and Sam Freedman added to the family’s storied history in the Blue Diamond Stakes when they won the 2022 edition with Daumier at Caulfield on Saturday.
The Godolphin colt gave the father/son training combination back-to-back wins in the $1.5 Group 1 event following Artorius’s win last year, while Anthony trained Lyre to win in 2019.
Anthony was part of the team when his brother Lee won the race with Knowledge (1997), Danelagh (1998) and Alinghi (2004) and Sam said teamwork was a hallmark of this year’s win.
“I’m just proud of the whole team,” he said. “It’s been a fair sort of build up to this, but the staff at Pinecliff and Flemington, I stand here and do the interviews after a win like this but they’re doing all the hard work.
“Mark Zahra gave him a great ride. Goldolphin, they’ve supported us with a handful of horses every year and everyone there is a pleasure to deal with, they let us place the horses as we wish.”
Daumier, a son of Epaulette, was positioned just behind the leading division by Zahra, who peeled wide rounding the home turn and struck the front midway down the straight.
A $20 chance, Daumier survived a late challenge from Revolutionary Miss ($4.60) to score a short-half-head win with Jacquinot, the $4.40 favourite, a neck away third.
Daumier, who won the Blue Diamond Preview on debut before finishing third in the Prelude, had blinkers applied for the Diamond and Zahra said that was critical to the win.
“His work (in blinkers) was really good on Tuesday morning and I was still a bit cautious – I thought he’s definitely got a better hope than he did without them – and I was just able to get to a spot where I was able to get room and to really get at him, which he needs, and he responded.”
Jamie Kah, who was forced to endure back-to-back arrow Group 1 defeats following the Black Caviar Lightning near-miss aboard Nature Strip, was proud of Revolutionary Miss’s effort.
“It was a super effort. We just didn’t have as good a run as the winner. She was very tough late,”
Damian Lane said Jacquinot’s efforts at two are a great pointer to what should be a successful three-year-old season.
“He’s still got a little bit to learn,” Lane said. “Going forward he’s realistically a three-year-old type, but it was a super run today.”
Daumier was promoted to the $15 line in TAB’s Golden Slipper market, which is headed by Coolangatta at $4.
“Daumier’s lifting.”An amazing finish to the 2022 Blue Diamond Stakes with Daumier edging out Revolutionary Miss