Devil Night wins Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield but still not square on $1.4m outlay

Yulong may not have recouped its huge outlay on Devil Night yet but the colt secured his stud future after winning the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield.

Devil Night (inside) takes out the Blue Diamond Stakes from Tentyris at Caulfield on Saturday. Picture: Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images

Yulong Investments is still not square on its outlay for Devil Night despite the colt banking $1.2m for connections in Saturday’s Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield.

The Victorian-based operation paid $1.4m for Devil Night at last year’s Magic Millions yearling sale on the Gold Coast.

With associated costs, Devil Night would still owe connections a six-figure amount despite winning Victoria’s two-year-old showpiece.

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Thankfully, Yulong boss, Chinese tycoon Yuesheng Zhang, can afford to absorb the difference for a couple of years.

But Devil Night is good for the balance after securing his stud future with his fighting on-pace win under jockey Michael Dee.

The Hawkes Racing-trained Devil Night ($16) was there to be run down in the straight but the Sheik Mohammed-owned Tentyris ($21) just failed to run him down.

The margin was small but the monetary effects were huge as Devil Night will go to stud as a Group 1-winning two-year-old with the ability to command a sizeable first season stud fee.

Devil Night’s co-trainer Wayne Hawkes said such circumstances were part of the big business of Australian two-year-old racing.

DEVIL NIGHT WINS THE BLUE DIAMOND AT HIS SECOND START! @[e-mail]/OMCo8pUYh9

— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) February 22, 2025

• What the jockeys said: 2025 Blue Diamond Stakes

“That’s what this game has become now – the big colts division,” Hawkes, who trains Devil Night in partnership with his father John and brother Michael, said.

“I know I’m saying this as the winning trainer, but they’ve put up their money Yulong and they’re the biggest owners in the country.

“Mr Zhang is not going backwards in going forwards, so to be fair, he deserves every bit of success he gets because no one’s putting any more money into the game than him.

“He’s feeding a lot of families, including mine.”

While massive amounts of money will be thrown around during Devil Night’s breeding career, being worth as much as an average house in Williamstown meant little in the last 200m of the Blue Diamond.

Grit won the race for Devil Night, who refused to yield under Michael Dee to give the jockey his second Blue Diamond win in three years.

“It was a credit to him. He was tough,” Dee said.

“We didn’t want it too much further.”

Michael Dee Devil Night ridden by Michael Dee wins the Sportsbet Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield Racecourse on February 22, 2025 in Caulfield, Australia. (Photo by Brett Holburt/Racing Photos via Getty Images)

Devil Night gave John Hawkes his second Blue Diamond Stakes win after the Kusi was awarded the race in 2003 after the on-track winner Roedean returned a positive swab for an ointment.

Wayne Hawkes said his father, who rarely attends race meetings these days, would take Devil Night’s win in his stride.

“He’s home by himself actually,” Hawkes said.

“He’d be sitting saying, ‘Yeah, it was OK’.”

“He would’ve kicked him home, don’t worry about that.

Previously unbeaten youngster Field Of Play started as the $4 favourite but never looked a winning chance, finishing sixth, 3½ lengths from the winner.

“(On) face value disappointing,” Field Of Play’s jockey Blake Shinn said.

“I think he struggled in the really hot conditions, he worked himself up pre-race and therefore I think that told in his performance.”

Originally published as Devil Night wins Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield but still not square on $1.4m outlay