The sports science behind Palm Angel’s bid for Blue Diamond success

Trainer Jason Warren is among a growing number of trainers to embrace sports science, and it’s why he is confident his filly Palm Angel can can win Saturday’s Blue Diamond.

Blue Diamond challenger Palm Angel is the complete package – physically and mentally.

Fast. Smart. Efficient.

The athletic two-year-old filly, trained by Jason Warren, moves like a racehorse beyond her age.

Sports science insights has allowed Warren and Rosemont Stud, owner-breeders of the Group 2 Blue Diamond Prelude (1100m) winner, to confidently plot a course to Melbourne’s richest race for two-year-olds on Saturday at Caulfield.

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Palm Angel has the athletic profile and temperament to win a Blue Diamond.

“We haven’t let the handbrake off,” Warren said.

“It’s coming off Saturday.”

“She’s very special on the clock but most importantly she’s got the brain for it.

“She walks around the mounting yard like an eight-year-old gelding and takes it all in her stride.”

Warren’s wife Kate, a former track sprinter with a degree in health science, has helped the Mornington and now also Flemington-based stable sharpen its focus on sports science.

Equimetre tracker insights, including recovery times, heart rates, stride length and frequency, help to closely monitor and train the elite equine athletes to an optimum level.

Champion trainer Ciaron Maher has been at the cutting edge of racing’s sport science with a team of staff dedicated to the cause.

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Warren is among a growing number of Australian trainers to embrace the new frontier.

Palm Angel’s training data early on shaped her Blue Diamond potential and steered Warren and connections into a Listed Merson Cooper Stakes (1000m) debut win late last year as a $12 chance.

Palm Angel winning the Merson Cooper on debut. Picture: Scott Barbour/Racing Photos via Getty Images

“We told everyone that wanted to listen we thought she could win the Merson Cooper,” Warren said.

“She was running numbers as good as Brooklyn Hustle when she was four, we compared her to Flyer, a Group 3 winner, ran in the Blue Diamond here last year.

“Palm Angel’s numbers were better than hers, we were very confident going into the Merson Cooper and we were afforded a very nice price the bookies offered up. We’ve been very confident in this filly’s level of ability from very early on.”

Palm Angel has a big action – 7m stride length – for her age and experience.

The average racehorse is about six metres.

Brooklyn Hustle posted 7.2m during her four and five-year-old seasons.

Warren’s Group 1 star Benedetta, primed for the Newmarket Handicap (1200m) next month, is in similar 7m-plus territory.

For stride length and rate comparison purposes only, legendary mare Black Caviar covered a remarkable 8.42m with every bound in her 2012 Lightning Stakes victory at Flemington.

Winx had an above average stride length (6.72m) but rated through the roof.

The four-time Cox Plate champion in full flight could punch out 170 strides per minute – 30 more than the average racehorse.

Pocket rocket Palm Angel has the rare combination of range and rate.

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“She can quicken and lengthen the stride,” Kate Warren said.

“Most horses can do one or the other.

“Their stride length doesn’t get any longer, they just go quicker.

“Whereas this filly extends and quickens.

“When her stride frequency increases so does her length of stride.”

Palm Angel is an $8.50 chance for the Blue Diamond, pending a final vet check on Saturday.

She placed fifth in the Group 3 Blue Diamond Preview (1000m) and rebounded with victory in the Prelude.

“We get here wound up and ready to go … she’s been trained for the race,” Warren said.

“Whereas a few of the others had to win their way into it.

“We were afforded the luxury of two soft runs, even though she won last start it was still a soft run.

“(Jockey) Ethan Brown felt like he had another gear up his sleeve, so I’d say he’ll be going for that extra gear on Saturday.”

Warren has also qualified $151 outsider Eden Rose, a three-start maiden, in the Blue Diamond.

“Only had three two-year-olds to the races this season and two in the Blue Diamond,” Warren said.

“For a small stable (30 horses in work) it’s a really big feather in our cap, we’re thrilled.”

Originally published as The sports science behind Palm Angel’s bid for Blue Diamond success