Platinum Diamond to renew rivalry with Churchillian
Three-year-old filly Platinum Diamond (NZ) (Hello Youmzain) will take on weight-for-age company once again on Saturday when she heads north to Tauranga to tackle the Listed Team Wealleans Tauranga Classic (1400m).
The Lisa Latta-trained filly lapped up the Heavy conditions as a late two- and early three-year-old, winning three successive stakes races, and she will be met by those conditions again this weekend, with Tauranga rated a Heavy10 on Friday morning, with further rain forecast overnight.
The Tauranga Classic will be Platinum Diamond’s third contest against older horses, with her two previous weight-for-age starts producing mixed results.
She was eye-catching in her first outing when flying home late to get within two lengths of race victor Churchillian in the Gr.3 Rotorua Stakes (1400m) at Arawa Park last month, with the filly eating into the Tony Pike mare’s lead with every bound.
“She just got a bit far out of her ground that day,” Latta said.
Platinum Diamond then contested the Listed AGC Training Stakes (1600m) at Wanganui three weeks later where she loomed ominously at the turn following a sustained run from the 800m mark, but the effort told and she failed to kick on, finishing seventh.
“He (Bruno Queiroz, jockey) asked her for an effort quite a way out and she certainly got there easy and came to the end of it in the last bit,” Latta said. “It is hard to know whether it was the mile or it was too big of an effort.”
Latta has subsequently freshened Platinum Diamond and is looking forward to resuming her this weekend where she will jump from barrier eight under Matthew Cameron.
“She had a bit of a freshen-up after the mile at Wanganui to bring her back to the 1400m,” Latta said.
Platinum Diamond is favoured to turn the tables on Churchillian (NZ) (Churchill) and even the ledger between the pair on Saturday, with the Palmerston North filly currently at a $4.20 quote with TAB bookmakers, while Churchillian is the second elect at $5.50 alongside the Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott-trained Tristar (NZ) (Exceedance).
All going to plan following Saturday, Platinum Diamond will likely press on through winter towards further stakes targets.
“There is the Opunake Cup (Listed, 1400m), so we will probably head there after this,” Latta said.
