Bright Diamond

Bright Diamond can be marked up at least a little on the bare form of the performance that she put up in finishing third in the Group 3 Prestige Fillies’ Stakes at Goodwood last Saturday. She was slowly away, with the result that she was playing catch-up from the start. Still last of the eight runners behind no more than a moderate pace that Fairy Cross was able to set as they straightened up for home, she travelled well for Clifford Lee, widest of all, at the three-furlong marker. She came under a ride on the run to the two-furlong pole, but she was trying to make ground into a quickening pace, and that wasn’t easy. Fairy Cross quickened from the front, and the Godolphin filly wasn’t for catching, but there was a lot to like about the manner in which Bright Diamond kept on down the near side to take third place.

It was a race in which the pace held up well, the winner made all and the runner-up, Breege, sat second from early. Bright Diamond was the only one who was able to mount a challenge of sorts from the rear. It was a really likeable performance by Karl Burke’s filly on just her second run. She was a seriously impressive winner of her maiden at Newmarket in early August, and she proved here that she was well up to Group standard in a race that wasn’t run to suit. It was just her second run too, so she should progress from it. She won her maiden on fast ground, but she handled this easier ground well, which augurs well for the autumn. She holds entries in the Rockfel Stakes and in the Fillies’ Mile, and she could be under-rated if she lines up in either.
Goodwood, 27^th August 2022