Draw Shakes Up Blue Diamond Puzzle

DRAW SHAKES UP BLUE DIAMOND PUZZLE 
No one would blame the connections of G1 Blue Diamond S. pre-draw favorite Earthquake (Aus) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) if they were shaken up following yesterday’s barrier draw for Saturday’s A$1 million Victoria juvenile showpiece. The unbeaten G3 Fillies Prelude heroine drew in barrier 15 of 16, and she will have to overcome a strong bias if she is to provide Darley and trainer Peter Snowden with a second Blue Diamond score. The last nine favorites to have drawn outside gate 10 in the last 20 years have all tasted defeat, including Darley’s own Guelph (Aus) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) last year, and the majority of bookies responded by pushing Earthquake out to joint $3.00 favoritism with pre-draw second choice and undefeated “TDN Rising Star” Rubick (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}), who fared better when landing in barrier 10. Paul Snowden, Darley’s Melbourne foreman and son of trainer Peter, remained confident in Earthquake’s chances after the draw, however. 
“You always cringe when you see double figures,” Snowden told Racing and Sports. “When I got a chance to see where they were all drawn, there’s potentially six or seven horses drawn inside her who could go forward, and if that’s the case it strings them out a bit. You’re banking on luck, but she can begin well and take up a spot that puts her in front of most.” 
He added: “She is as good a chance as we’ve ever had in the race, there’s no doubt about that. Ability wise, I’m not sure we’ve seen her at her best yet. I still think that’s to come.” 
Rubick, all the rage after a strong Rosehill barrier trial victory in early January, justified the hype with a runaway maiden score deemed worthy of TDN Rising Star status Jan. 25. He overcome a less than ideal trip to stay unbeaten in the male’s division of the Feb. 8 G3 Blue Diamond Prelude S. just hours after Coolmore bought into him. Sterling Alexiou, traveling foreman to trainer Gerald Ryan, was on hand at the barrier draw, and was pleased with the outcome. “We were hoping for between seven and 12,” he told Racing and Sports. “It’s an ideal gate for the horse.” Nostradamus (Aus) (Medaglia d’Oro), a fast-finishing second behind Rubick in the Prelude when drawn out in the sticks, fared slightly better yesterday, pulling barrier 11, and he currently trades at around $11.00. The Gai Waterhouse stable suffered a blow yesterday when forced to sideline its early G1 Golden Slipper fancy Fighting Sun (Aus) (Northern Meteor {Aus}) due to injury, but the stable experienced better luck at the Blue Diamond draw, with its Franceso (Aus) (Wanted {Aus}) and Nayeli (Aus) (More Than Ready) drawing in barriers eight and nine, respectively. Trainer Mick Price, who tasted success in the 2012 Blue Diamond with Samaready (Aus) (More Than Ready), also found his runners, Jabali (Aus) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) and Cornrow (Aus) (Duporth {Aus}), drawn alongside one another in barriers three and four.