Gerard Whately says racing needs another champion horse and the Blue Diamond Stakes may provide it

AS surely as Bonnie Tyler ever felt it, racing is holding out for a hero.

Favourite Rubick could provide the heroics in the Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield.

AS surely as Bonnie Tyler ever felt it, racing is holding out for a hero. He’s got to be strong, she’s got to be fast and it’s got to be up for the fight.

A two-year-old blessed with scintillating speed and the conviction not to compound as the challenges mount and the legs fatigue.

A mercurial three-year-old with untold potential to upstage the older horses and force open the possibilities of the future.

A capacity field at thundering velocity charging from every angle at the climax of the Oakleigh Plate.

A Melbourne Cup hero to sweep all before him, stamping his strength and superiority on his class of contemporaries.

This Blue Diamond day has the ingredients to deliver racing what it desperatelycraves. Something to hang its fedora on.

There’s no denying the sport is trying. Both for a contemporary edge and a return to relevance. While it won’t suit everyone, it is to be encouraged. To make no change is to ensure an endless recession.

For now the lack of co-ordination and co-operation makes for a messy blend. Some weeks start early, others late. At Caulfield you can come as you are, at Flemington you dress to the nines.

Relaxed Racing couldn’t be further removed from what’s looming in Sydney where The Championships promise to get “racy” with their Horsewives and Stray Cats, Show Ponies and Glamazons.

It’s not that racing is trying to be everything to everyone. Rather it seems it’d settle for being something to anyone.

The sport is so good on a day like this, it should sell itself. Pity is it doesn’t.

At the heart of the sport ­remains the horse. In recent times these characters have proved too fleeting.

A year ago the imagination was fired by the pony with the shock of blonde mane, trained by a battling South Australian and ridden by an unfashionable female jockey. Miracles Of Life became the little horse that could. But only for a day.

All Too Hard was imposing himself on the Melbourne turf and teasing epic clashes with glamour three-year-old Pierro.

Well ahead of time both colts were retired to stud. The guarantee of millions might have demanded it yet those ­decisions were a dreadful disservice to a sport that needed them desperately.

It’s A Dundeel dominated the autumn in Sydney but went amiss at precisely the wrong moment in a spring campaign that might have proved his coronation.

We’d only just reacquainted ourselves with Atlantic Jewel when she was gone for good on the eve of her masterpiece.

Long John last week further highlighted what’s been lost when the Caulfield Guineas winner romped home at his debut in Dubai.

So the search for greatness goes on and brings us to Caulfield, where the possibilities are numerous.

A better build-up to the Blue Diamond couldn’t have been scripted. The two leading contenders running identical times in the heats.An enigmatic colt versus the force of nature filly. Rubick against Earthquake. An emphatic victor would define a star.

But given the unfavourable barriers, it doesn’t end there. Chivalry, Nostradamus and Nayeli also have that elusive quality that marks the best juvenile gallopers. In prospect it’s a classic Diamond that should thrust forward a rare jewel.

Two vital three-year-olds take up the challenge of the Futurity Stakes. Bull Point has an air of freak about him while Polanksi is the Derby winner with a Melbourne Cup destiny.

Chief among rivals is Moment Of Change, the long-time understudy returning the lethal edge to Peter Moody and Luke Nolen.

And there’s the meeting of the past two Cup winners. Fiorente is presented the opportunity Green Moon couldn’t grasp — to convert his place in folklore into a rank among the champions.

Racing is due a break this afternoon. A conversation starter away from crooks and corruption. The emergence of a horse worth throwing your hat in the air for.

gerard whateley hosts fox sports summer 360 and can be heard on abc grandstand