Lloyd Kennewell took just one glance at Eternal Warrior to recognize his precocious talent suitable for early juvenile contests, and the colt has confirmed that assessment by qualifying for the Blue Diamond Stakes.
The young horse will pursue the initial Group 1 prize available to his age group during the $2 million contest at Caulfield on Saturday.
No participant in the 1200-metre race boasts deeper connections to Victoria’s top two-year-old spectacle than the colt Kennewell acquired alongside Blueblood Thoroughbreds for $80,000 at the Magic Millions Adelaide sale.
Eternal Warrior hails from Devout Hero, by No Nay Never, whose grandam Perfect Persuasion shares sibling status with 2004 Blue Diamond winner Alinghi.
From the sire’s lineage, Eternal Warrior represents a debut crop foal from Rosemont’s Extreme Warrior, himself a progeny of 2016 Blue Diamond victor Extreme Choice, rendering him particularly attractive to Kennewell.
“Matty Becker and I do our work together and we thought he was an early two-year-old, hence the reason we were keen to dive in,” Kennewell said.
“We liked him a lot obviously. We thought if he wasn’t the best colt, he was close to it, in Adelaide.
“He’s obviously got a very good pedigree, we’ve had a bit of luck with Extreme Choice and I thought he looked like an Extreme Choice.
“So we were looking at him as a cheaper version of an Extreme Choice colt.”
Eternal Warrior validated Kennewell’s evaluation with a debut triumph at $41 in the Listed Merson Cooper Stakes (1000m) at Caulfield on November 29.
Attention then turned to Saturday’s feature, and a third-place effort in the Group 3 Blue Diamond Prelude (1100m) on February 7 has left Kennewell assured of the colt’s preparation.
The Prelude went to Closer To Free, an $8 shot in Diamond markets, with $5 second elect Guest House in second. Eternal Warrior sits at $13 in Diamond wagering.
“Normally my horses have had two trials going into a race first-up, but we planned deliberately to only have the one to be peaking for the Grand Final,” Kennewell said.
“His race in the Prelude showed exactly that. Damian (Lane) thought he was going to win when he straightened up and he just blew out the last 100.
“He had the fastest last 800, 600, 400 of the race but just peaked on his run late.
“We were really, really happy and his work on Monday morning was super. Damian came in and galloped him and was really happy with him.
“We were just wishing we got a lot better draw than what we got dished up.”
Eternal Warrior landed barrier 16 but shifts to 13 should the lowest three emergencies miss out, in a maximum field of 16.
Kennewell anticipates the colt’s prior wide-gate experience – barrier 13 of 13 on debut and eight of eight in the Prelude – will aid his chances.
“He’s drawn wide every start, so he’s shown that he can do that and hopefully it will work out for us,” he said.
Damian Lane sticks with the mount on Saturday, the jockey in fine form seeking his initial Blue Diamond Stakes victory following a close second last year on Tentyris behind Devil Night.
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