The Blue Diamond Stakes has seen several changes since the first running of the race in 1971.

Tolerance was the winner ridden by Roy Higgins, trained by Angus Armanasco, the stake was $12,500 with the winner’s share $8,750.

The race was such a success with an attendance figure of nearly 21,000; the club increased the stake to $20,000 the following year.

For the next decade stakes continued to increase, as did the attendances, with a record crowd of 30,835 in 1973, who witnessed New Gleam, ridden by Terry Finger, take out the diamond.

By 1989 the stake had been raised to $500,000, however, the attendances were well down on previous years, for reasons unknown.

The magical million was reached in 1997 when Lee Freedman quinelled the race with Knowledge and Rose Of Danehill.

The record for the race stands to Hurricane Sky; he ran 1.08.10 to equal the track record, while Midnight Fever, on a heavy track, was the slowest time 1.14.3.