Godolphin confirmed its strong hand in Australia’s first juvenile Group One of the year when Arcaded proved herself one of the best two-year-old fillies in training with a dominant win in Saturday’s G1 Blue Diamond Prelude (Fillies) at Caufield.
The daughter of Street Boss will now go to the G1 Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday, 20 February.
Arcaded, an impressive winner at her only other start, sprinted to the front soon after straightening and increased her advantage in the final 200m to score by 2-1/2 lengths from Scorched Earth with Wolves third.
“Two starts, two wins now. She’s attacked the line like a really good filly,” said Godolphin’s Melbourne foreman Sean Keogh.
“She’s got that bit of stuff in her to show she’s a good horse.”
Winning rider Damian Lane agreed that Arcaded had progressed since her victory at her only previous start.
“She’s certainly improved. That’s what you want to see from the two-year-olds at this time of year,” Lane said.
“You want them to take another step forward and she certainly did that today.
“She’s a very unassuming filly, but once the barriers open she’s all business.”
Arcaded is expected to be joined in the Blue Diamond Stakes race by Anamoe, who finished a close second to General Beau in Saturday’s G3 Blue Diamond Prelude for colts and geldings.
The brilliant effort of the Godolphin two-year-old team, which has now won 12 races for the season, was followed at Caulfield by the welcome return to winning form of the former UK-trained runner Best Of Days in the G3 Carlyon Cup.
A winner at G1-level in Australia, Best Of Days hadn’t won in more than two years, but had shown he still had something to offer with second placings in good company at his previous two starts.
“He’s been running terrific,” Keogh said.
“He ran a bottler last start giving six kilos away in the Summer Cup in Sydney.
“There’s plenty left in him. He’s a Group 1 winner over a mile, he’s won a group race over a mile today and there might be something in a couple of weeks for him as well.”
Jockey Damien Oliver made a positive forward move on Best Of Days soon after the start that allowed him to secure the lead without a contest.
Oliver said he and trainer James Cummings had agreed that going to the front could be their best option.
“James said, ‘you’re on him, you know what you’re doing’. So that’s what we did.
“He got into a good rhythm and coming to the turn he was going to take some running down.
“He’s a lovely horse to ride. It’s the first time I’ve sat on him, but he was really well placed by James and the Godolphin team here in Melbourne.”
