Blue Diamond Stakes: Fontiton and Secret Agenda set to sparkle

ROBERT Smerdon and Mick Price have a couple of real gems in equal Blue Diamond favourites Fontiton and Secret Agenda.

Young gems to sparkle in Blue Diamond

ROBERT Smerdon reckons jockey Dwayne Dunn said it best about the excitement associated with the arrival of two-year-olds onto the racing scene — “It’s like Christmas and you can’t wait to unwrap the presents to see what you’ve got.”

Smerdon has seen Christmas come and go 30 times since he drooled over the gift that would win him Victoria’s premier juvenile race, the $1 million Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes.

That was when his colt Let’s Get Physical collected the $155,000 first prize booty.

He reckons he has waited long enough and this year he has the chance to win the feature again with a filly named Fontiton. “Thirty years ago is a while ago,” he mused.

“It is always exciting when two-year-olds start their careers. You are always keen to see what they’ve got to offer.”

Smerdon had about 40 presents to unwrap when the juveniles first strutted their stuff, and frankly Fontiton took him by surprise.

“We decided to give her a 200m dash up and after 50 yards she was three lengths in front. So we pressed on and she had a trial (winning at Cranbourne) and went to the races five days later at Moonee Valley. She won by six lengths and it was a surprise because I thought she would be a really nice three-year-old and had no great expectations of her so early in her career.

“It is just natural talent. I think she is better than the others,” he said.

“You see one like her and you say ‘this can gallop’. But they must present on race day. Some show you the world on the track but don’t front on race day, and then there is a youngster like Fontiton who goes to the races and just blows them away.”

So far, as equal favourite for the Diamond over 1200m at Caulfield on February 28, the daughter of Turffontein has taken all before her.

After the Valley win, she had a rest and returned with a come-from-behind win in the Diamond Preview (1000m) at Sandown in a change of tactics. She has since run a serious 400m gallop at the same track last Saturday to show Smerdon she is on target for the big feature ahead.

“We have tried to teach her not to be the bunny and explored the option of settling and she has done that well. She won the Preview coming from behind and giving weight to the others and I was relieved to see that because I thought she was vulnerable in that race.

“We are open-minded where we settle on Saturday, if we lead or take a sit. It depends a lot on the barriers and what the others do when we jump,” he said.

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Mick Price and Damien Oliver will team up with Secret Agenda in the Blue Diamond.

A FEW steps away Mick Price also was admiring his “Christmas gift” — the other equal favourite for the Diamond, Secret Agenda.

Price won the Diamond only two years ago with Samaready, although he still has nightmares that another of his presents, Roedean, won the race in 2003 but was disqualified on a drug technicality.

He too has high hopes, firstly in Saturday’s first showdown with Fontiton, and for the final.

“She is spot on,” he says, having watched her go stride-for-stride with flying machine Royal Snitzel at trackwork.

However he has seen his main rival in action and has great respect for both the filly, and her trainer.

“If Fontiton runs up to her work in a recent jumpout here and what we hear of her work at Sandown last Saturday morning, she will be hard to beat.

“I am not saying she can’t win, but Fontiton is the measuring stick,” he said.

“She was ridden aggressively at Moonee Valley but we don’t want to be so aggressive here and Damien Oliver will sort that out. If she can be just off the pace and hit the line hard and be in the finish she’ll be heading to the Diamond in good shape.”