McDonald unearths a Diamond in the rough as Hayasugi storms to victory

A decorated racing family has built on its rich connection to the Blue Diamond Stakes as Hayasugi led in a fillies’ clean sweep of the $2 million race.

In the finest moment of his career, Clinton McDonald became a third-generation trainer to claim Victoria’s most prestigious two-year-old event at Caulfield.

Two decades after winning his first Group 1 race, McDonald celebrated a fourth at the elite level with a salute to two family members who left an indelible mark on the Australian turf.

McDonald’s grandfather Bon Hoysted trained the champion sprinter Manikato to win the 1978 Blue Diamond and 11 years later Courtza won for his father Ross.

“It’s one of those races where I used to say to my mates, history repeats,” McDonald said.

Manikato and Courtza completed the Blue Diamond-Golden Slipper double and McDonald will give Hayasugi a chance to do the same at Rosehill on March 23.

“We’re lucky enough now to have a live chance and I think the Golden Slipper will really suit this filly and the way she attacks the line,” he said.

Hayasugi emulated her sire Royal Meeting as a Group 1-winning juvenile while propelling yet another son of Invincible Spirit into the southern hemisphere breeding spotlight.

Royal Meeting was a member of the Godolphin stable under trainer Saeed Bin Suroor and won both his starts at two, highlighted by the Group 1 Criterium International (1400m) at Chantilly.

A striking individual, Royal Meeting campaigned briefly in Australia during the 2019 spring carnival, earning a Group 3 placing before retiring to stud.

Purchased by a syndicate headed by Aquis Farm, Royal Meeting has stood at Leneva Park in Victoria for the past three seasons at a modest $11,000 service.

Royal Meeting covered 89 mares under the Aquis Victoria banner during his first year at stud in 2020 and has so far had six runners with Hayasugi, a $47,500 Inglis Australian Weanling Sale buy, looking the goods from the early part of the season.

She was runner-up in the Inglis Banner at Moonee Valley on Cox Plate day but has taken all before this campaign in winning a Blue Diamond Preview and Prelude before sending her earnings beyond $1.6 million on Saturday.

Giving jockey Jamie Kah her first Blue Diamond win, Hayasugi denied Hall Of Famer Gai Waterhouse and her training partner Adrian Bott a breakthrough in the race when she ran down the Written Tycoon fillies Lady Of Camelot and Kuroyanagi.

Eneeza added to the female domination in finishing fourth, leaving Stay Focused as the first colt home in fifth place.

In Sydney, Straight Charge helped soften the Diamond defeat for Waterhouse and Bott.

The no-nonsense colt delivered an appropriate win for his sire Written By in a victory that confirmed a Golden Slipper berth for yet another Tulloch Lodge juvenile.

After missing the Magic Millions 2YO Classic because of a minor setback, Straight Charge claimed the Group 2 Silver Slipper Stakes at his first run since winning in December.

In beating stablemate Espionage, the Yulong-owned Straight Charge reversed the finishing order of the Group 3 Breeders’ Plate at Randwick at the start of the two-year-old season.

The result was also quinella for Widden Stud, which stands Written By alongside Espionage’s sire Zoustar.

Since its switch to the autumn, the Silver Slipper has provided a fertile lead-in for Tulloch Lodge with Pierro (2012) and Farnan (2020) completing the double.

Straight Charge has been elevated to the third tier of Golden Slipper betting and is the third stakes winner for Written By, the 2018 Blue Diamond Stakes hero.

The first colt home in the 2019 Golden Slipper when fourth to Kiamichi, Written By has also sired two-time Perth Listed winner Ripcord as well as Straight Charge’s barnmate The Novelist, successful in the 2022 BJ McLachlan Stakes at Group 3 level.

Straight Charge was a $270,000 Magic Millions purchase from the Lime Country Thoroughbreds draft.