After a six-year absence the lucrative Diamond Mile roars back to life today at Caymanas Park, and it didn’t come back quietly. A purse of $10 million on the line, one mile (1,600m) to run, and the best horses in Jamaica have all answered the call. This is a statement, and the statement is simple: the titans are here.
The sixth running of the Graded Stakes contest for three-year-olds and upward reads like a Hall of Fame ballot. For the first time, three current Track Record holders will meet on the same track — Rideallday, Legacy Isle, and Phenomenal Power — and they’ll have the in-form Nautical Star as a serious threat. Rideallday, the reigning Horse of the Year, returns for his second outing this season.
He broke the 8½-furlong (1,700m) Track Record in the Ian Levy Cup on April 6, and has been given time to come back fresh, and is drawn perfectly on the outside. He’s proven at the mile and proven under pressure when he won the ultra-rich US$300,000 Mouttet Mile last December. He gives away weight today, but he gives away nothing in courage.
If you want the Diamond Mile, you have to go through Rideallday. There’s Phenomenal Power, just three years old and already dangerous. He shattered the 7½-furlong (1,500m) track record in 1:29.0 on July 4, and his flat run over 6 furlongs (1,200m) next time out had prep written all over it.
The mile suits him, the speed is his, and if he gets to the front unchallenged he will be very hard to catch. Don’t sleep on Legacy Isle, either. He lowered the 7-furlong (1,400m) track record on June 6, drops 8lb to 118 today, and is bred to get this trip.
He’s training well and brings the kind of class that can win any version of this race. Nautical Star already owns this distance after an impressive 1:35.3 win over this exact mile on June 27, beating stablemate Barnaby and the improving Don Kwesi. He likes to track and pounce; he knows Caymanas Park, and he’s coming in sharp.
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