It has been more than three years since the decorated Hawkes stable has tasted group 1 success, so they are not about to rush into answering the question that will be on everyone’s lips come Sunday morning.
Will they run their drought-breaking Blue Diamond-winning colt Devil Night in next month’s Golden Slipper?
Michael Dee (right) rides Devil Night to victory in the Blue Diamond.Credit: Getty Images
“You know what? You are a Blue Diamond winner, so you don’t need to make those decisions on race day,” Wayne Hawkes said at Caulfield on Saturday.
“I’m just going to enjoy winning a Blue Diamond Stakes. That’s the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”
If the answer becomes yes in the following days, and the Hawkes opt to chase their second group 1 in a month by tackling the March 22 Rosehill Slipper with their two-year-old colt, they will be swimming against the tide of history.
In 2011, the Peter Snowden-trained Sepoy was the last of only five horses to have completed the Blue Diamond-Slipper double.
But history aside, Sydney’s $5 million race will surely be a tempting carrot.
The Hawkes family – John and his sons Michael and Wayne – have been synonymous with two greats of the Australian turf, Octagonal and Lonhro.
The family, led by their hall of fame father, have captured some of the biggest races in the country, including four Golden Slippers.
But of late, the winners at the elite level have dried up. Their last group 1 winner was Yearning in the 2021 Thousand Guineas, also at Caulfield, and so has stretched for 1228 days.
Trainer Wayne Hawks (right) poses with the victorious Devil Night.Credit: Getty Images
“If you don’t have them [good horses], you don’t have them, it is as simple as that,” Hawkes said.
It helps “have them” when you can tap into the industry’s new goliath, Yulong Investments – a breeding and racing behemoth owned by Chinese businessman Yuesheng Zhang with a stud farm at Nagambie.
Yulong’s seemingly ubiquitous green-and-white colours are fast dominating the Australian racing landscape.
They won last year’s Cox Plate with Via Sistina and the VRC Oaks with Treasurethe Moment.
They were once again to the fore at Caulfield on Saturday, finishing first with Devil Night ($16) and third with Tycoon Star, trained by Lindsay Park, in the $2 million 1200-metre Blue Diamond Stakes.
They also won the group 2 Angus Armanasco Stakes with Treasurethe Moment, trained by Matt Laurie, and the last race on the card with Deny Knowledge, trained by Anthony and Sam Freedman.
“They certainly pay a lot of money for their horses,” Hawkes said.
“They paid a lot of money [$1.4 million] for this horse [Devil Night] at the Magic Millions and to come out and win a Blue Diamond – wow.
“I’ve got to thank Yulong. They’ve only got five horses with us. It’s a great effort, and you know what, I just love doing that with the big colts.
Mr Brightside claims another group 1 win in the Futurity Stakes.Credit: Getty Images
“Mr Zhang is not going backwards in going forwards, so to be fair, he deserves every bit of success he gets because no one’s putting any more money into the game than him. He’s feeding a lot of families, including mine.”
It was a big day for the big stables in the three group 1s at Caulfield on Saturday. Lindsay Park’s odds-on favourite Mr Brightside won the Futurity Stakes in a head bobber and Ciaron Maher took out the Oakleigh Plate with 7-1 shot Jimmysstar.
“He is a very special horse,” Maher said. “Ozzie Kheir and the team of owners, they’re great people.
“I think Ozzie thought I was crazy when I ran him over 1100m the first time. He’s a special horse.
Trainer Ciaron Maher (left) with the triumphant Jimmysstar after the group 1 Oakleigh Plate.Credit: Getty Images
“He’s always shown that bit of X-factor and I can’t thank Ozzie, John [O’Neill] and the whole ownership group.”
Another big breeding and racing operation Godolphin were twice unlucky, with their Tom Kitten beaten narrowly by Mr Brightside and Tentyris finishing second in the Blue Diamond.
