Darley has the armament to win the Blue Diamond Stakes; it appears to be just a matter of deciding on the game plan.

Metastasio staked her claim yesterday after what was a brilliant win at Flemington in the 1100 metres of the Nursery Plate.

She bounced immediately to the lead once the gates opened, recording 1.04.08 for the trip, and was never pressed at any stage of the race

Her rider, Kerrin McEvoy, treated it as a walk in the park, that’s how it unfolded; she had far too much class for her rivals.

She opened up favourite with The Yowie, finally she was the one to shorten, it was an obvious decision when the horses paraded in the paddock.

Darley holds a strong hand in the Diamond, as 300 metres away from the start of Saturday’s race another hopeful, Montsegur, a last start winner at Caulfield, was in the stable ready to stake her claim on the $1 million prize.

She will more than likely get her chance in the Blue Diamond Fillies Preview, at Caulfield, on Saturday, when she is likely to meet Adelaide speedster, Miracles Of Life, who remains unbeaten after two runs, winning her most recent race by nine lengths.

At present the fillies appear to have a full hand, they are holding all the aces at present, the colts and geldings get their chance to strut their stuff in the Colts Preview.

Metastasio - Darley's speed machine

Spare a thought for Jessica Drury, a young jockey from Tamworth; she is doing it hard after just returning to riding from a fall resulting in a broken right ankle, keeping her out of the saddle for several months.

On Saturday morning last, while riding track work, she had another fall and another broken ankle, this time it was the left one. 

Rick Hore-Lacy claimed, if he started another horse in the Magic Millions Classic, he would do it differently. 

He would get up there much earlier than he did with Clevadude, visiting horses need to be up there at least a month to acclimatise to the humidity. 

Dean Lawson got it right when he won the Magic Millions with Testa Rossa in 1999, he made the trip in two stages with his colt, winning at Randwick on Boxing Day, then going directly onto the Gold Coast.

Racing N S W stewards have acceded to a request from trainer, Kim Waugh ,to delay the declaration of a jockey for Harry Hotspur in the $250,000 Inglis Classic, over 1200 metres at Rosehill on Saturday, due to the shortage of senior riders.

British General, the horse that defied death in the Black Saturday bushfires, has been the star of the summer racing, at least at Flemington.

He almost has a mortgage on the race whatever it might be; he almost seems to grow another leg when the word Flemington is mentioned.

On Saturday he had them off the bit all the way, after drawing the inside gate, when winning the Chester Manifold Stakes at Listed level.

He has put life into what has been a dreary old summer of racing, winning three races at headquarters in exciting fashion.

The horse has done a marvellous job, irrespective of whether he will get any further is questionable, he was beginning to shorten stride a bit on Saturday when the post was reached and being by General Nediym, that is about as far as you would expect him to get.

British General strides away

British General is a pretty exciting horse, he seems to light up the area when he enters the paddock, he is a very fine animal with great presence.

When racing he has a dominant action, he gets up off the ground with a fluent stride, he certainly looks good when galloping.

British General was the fourth leg of a quartet of wins for Glen Boss, he has the happy knack of placing his mounts in a winning position, he makes it all look so easy.

 Glen Boss - The four fingers tell the story

John Sadler can be a little reserved when questioned about some of his winners, and there was a trace of that at Flemington after the win of Ms Funovits in the Better Beyond Plate .

He was not getting carried away with the filly having her first start, even though some markets had her as pre post favourite.

She delivered, and that is not likely to be the last we will hear of her, she has now earned the seal of approval from the boss.

Sadler is in no hurry to make any quick decisions; he will wait patiently until the dust settles before declaring his next move.

After a trial last Friday week when she did everything right, except she didn’t come off the bit, the time was ripe to give her a run.

Sadler was full of praise for the filly after her win saying, “I thought at the 400 metres she was in trouble and at the 200 metres beaten for sure, to her credit she refused to give in and it was a good run,” he said.

Ms Funovits - The first of four winners for Glen Boss

Lucky Angel has earned a trip to Tasmania, in search of Black Type, after what was an easy win in the Jezabeel Handicap at Flemington.

She can get 2000 metres in comfort, which is a huge advantage, and she is in form, you cannot get a better recipe, it is a case of strike while the iron is hot.

Her latest win was a sound staying performance, she settled back last in the field until reaching the home turn before putting any pressure on the leading division.

The Hobart, or the Launceston Cup, maybe both, depending on how the handicapper treats her, we do know she is handy to at least 2000 metres.

Whilst the mare started third favourite she was the only runner to shorten up in the betting, she came in a$1.50 on her opening quote.

Lucky Angel has won four of her 22 starts, hardly an impressive strike rate, yet she has filled 12 placings besides her wins.

Genuine Spin started the pronounce favourite, she was disappointing travelling wide for most of the trip, and when it was time to run on in the straight there was little there.

Manila Jewel ran a fair race, she was there for much of the journey but was found wanting in the run home.

Lucky Angel off to Tasmania