Late entry Field Of Play set to give Busuttin and Young second Blue Diamond Stakes win
Taking their time has landed Cranbourne trainers Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young with a great chance to win a second Blue Diamond Stakes with unbeaten youngster Field Of Play.
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A circumspect approach could reap $1.2m for Field Of Play’s connections after Saturday’s Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield.
Field Of Play will be one of two unbeaten runners, along with the Ciaron Maher-trained Cherish Me, in the Blue Diamond Stakes following wins at The Valley and the colts and geldings Blue Diamond Prelude.
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The son of Group 2-winning speedster Deep Field will attempt to give Cranbourne trainers Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young their second Blue Diamond win after the pair saluted with Tagaloa five years ago.
While Field Of Play has only been to the races twice, Busuttin said the gelding could have raced months earlier after pleasing in jumpouts and a trial in the spring.
However, the camp decided to give Field Of Play more time to develop, which has paid the ultimate dividends to date.
“He was broken in when he came over here so he just went straight into the system,” Busuttin said.
“He was up in the first Caulfield trials in the spring and could have raced in the Debutant Stakes in October but we decided against it.
“He went back to the paddock and he came back a lot better for it.”
Busuttin and Young also adopted a patient approach when deciding to tackle the $2m Blue Diamond with the exciting youngster.
Connections decided against paying various acceptance fees throughout the Blue Diamond Stakes process, preferring to see whether Field Of Play would stand up to the rigours of two-year-old racing.
That led to a bigger late nomination fee of $55,000 but the group is playing with the house’s money after Field Of Play earned more than $290,000 for his two successes.
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“They decided that if he was good enough to be in there, they may as well wait and pay the last entry fee rather than pay up earlier and not get there,” Busuttin said.
“They were quite happy to do so, as they did.
“I think it might be about $15,000 all up with all acceptances from go to whoa so it’s about $40,000 difference.”
Fortune favoured Field Of Play at Tuesday’s barrier draw after Busuttin selected barrier five for feature event.
Busuttin said Field Of Play was his relaxed self in his final track gallop before the 2025 edition of Victoria’s richest two-year-old race.
“He just did his normal work over 1000m, running home his last 400m, with Daggers, a stakes level horse that is a smart worker and he worked up super,” he said.
“He’s got a bit of scope about him. But, in saying that, he’s a big, strong individual.
“He works, he eats and he’s very easy to deal with.”
Jockey Blake Shinn will continue his association with Field Of Play at Caulfield.
Originally published as Late entry Field Of Play set to give Busuttin and Young second Blue Diamond Stakes win
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