Diamond Jak delivers Ellerslie first

Statistics had previously suggested Diamond Jak was something of a heavy-track specialist, but he added a new string to his bow on Saturday and delivered a special win for his connections in the Stella Artois (2100m) at Ellerslie.

The seven-year-old son of Jakkalberry went into the $65,000 open handicap with five wins to his name, and all of those wins had come in heavy conditions – four of them at Te Rapa and one at Matamata.

But Diamond Jak brought his A-game to Auckland on Saturday and won on Soft5 ground. He took his career earnings past $200,000 for owner-breeders Gary and Linda Hodel.

“This will be a great thrill for the owners,” trainer Mark Brosnan said. “They haven’t had a win at Ellerslie before, so they’ll be rapt to get one.”

Diamond Jak had been his own worst enemy at Ellerslie last start, badly missing the start before making up plenty of ground for fifth behind Saturday’s race rivals Bosch and Drop Of Something.

It was a different story in the rematch on Saturday as Diamond Jak jumped cleanly and settled much closer in seventh place for jockey Matt Cameron. Bosch held the lead through the early part of the race, then handed up to Quick Fire when that runner pushed forward after being caught wide around the first turn.

All of the nine-horse field had a chance as they straightened for home. Quick Fire kicked hard and threw down the gauntlet to her rivals, but Diamond Jak and Pacheco slowly but surely clawed their way up alongside her. It developed into a three-horse war through the last 50m, which Diamond Jak won by a short head.

Pacheco took second by a neck from Quick Fire, with last season’s Gr.2 Auckland Cup (3200m) winner Trav producing an eye-catching late run from the back of the field to finish a close fourth.

Diamond Jak’s 34-race career has now produced six wins, 11 placings and $234,725 in prize-money.

“He’s been a bit of a headache for me, because half the time he doesn’t jump out at the start,” Brosnan said. “If he jumped today, I knew he was a chance. Thankfully he did, so that solved that problem.

“He can be a bit of a hard horse to keep condition on, but he’s a good, honest horse when he does things right.

“Most of his form is on heavy ground, but he’s shown today that he likes this better ground at Ellerslie too. That might open up some more options for him.”