TRIAL SURPRISE PUTS O'BRIEN ON DIAMOND PATH
A chance sighting of unraced juvenile Closer To Free at last week’s two-year-old trials on the Caulfield Heath track has put the Cox Plate-winning team of Danny O’Brien and Sean Buckley on an unlikely path to the $2 million Blue Diamond Stakes later this month.
O’Brien had never seen the Street Boss colt before the January 29 trial (view trial at top of story), and he knew little of him before watching Closer To Free withstand the challenges of Merson Cooper Stakes quinella horses Eternal Warrior and Stretan Ruler in the 800-metre trial.
O’Brien had already won a Blue Diamond with super colt Star Witness in 2010 and on first sight, saw similar potential qualities in Closer To Free.
“We purchased it off Adrian (Corboy) after the trial at Caulfield,” O’Brien explained. “I saw him in the trial that day and Adrian, he’s a trader, so I made him an offer, and it was bought that day.
“I just thought he was a lovely horse. Physically, he was there and obviously he trialled very well that day.
“He’s got a great pedigree. He’s out of a two-year-old stakes winner Lady Naturaliste) and he’s by Street Boss (sire of the likes of Anamoe, Tentyris and Tempted) so he had a lot of things going for him.”
Closer To Free’s sale to Buckley was for an undisclosed sum but the colt had originally been purchased as a yearling for $60,000 by Polaris Bloodstock out of the 2025 Classic Yearling sale.
His new owner is Sean Buckley’s Ultra Horse Syndicate and O’Brien has enjoyed amazing success with those black and emerald green colours in the past in the form of dual G1 winner Shamus Award.
Shamus Award became the first and only maiden galloper to win the Cox Plate in 2013 as a three-year-old at $21 before he returned the following autumn and claimed the G1 Australian Guineas.
Closer To Free has only been in O’Brien’s care at his Flemington stables for a handful of days, but the trainer’s initial impression of the colt has not changed.
“Importantly, he’s coped with that trial very well,” O’Brien said. “I’ve had him for a week now and he’s a happy colt and we’ll know a lot more about after the race on Saturday.
“The best feedback you ever get on any horse is once you take it to the races.”
Historically, the Blue Diamond Stakes is won by horses that have been to the races several times, but recently, the winners have tended to emerge late for Victoria’s premier juvenile race.
“It is not unprecedented to start this late and still get there,” O’Brien said.
“The Blue Diamond winner last year (Devil Night) had his first start in the Prelude, running second, and then went one better in the Diamond.
“This horse has had enough of a grounding to go to Saturday with every chance to show up if he’s good enough. He’ll have to run first or second to make it to the Blue Diamond two weeks later.”
Star Witness too was only lightly raced before he turned in one of the great Blue Diamond runs to win from well back in the field.
“He only had two starts before he won the Blue Diamond,” O’Brien said of Star Witness. “He went in there on his third run and won it before going on as a three-year-old and winning a Coolmore and then we took him to Royal Ascot to run second in the King’s Stand.”
As much as $15 was on offer with Sportsbet on Thursday for Closer To Free to make a winning debut against the likes of odds-on favourite Guest House on Saturday.
He has been supported from $201 into $23 for the $2 million Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on February 21.
Story by Andrew Eddy for Racing.com
Pic by Racing Photos