Blue Diamond Stakes Preview and Tips 22/02/25

Another week, another set of Group One races to sink our teeth into! The Autumn Racing Carnival is starting to heat up with the $2 million Blue Diamond Stakes when we see some of the best 2YOs hit Caulfield Racecourse. 

Along with the Blue Diamond Stakes, there’s also the Oakleigh Plate and the Futurity Stakes, also at Caulfield Racecourse. The 2025 Blue Diamond Stakes shapes up to be a pretty even contest with five runners currently listed with single-digit odds at PlayUp.

We are treated to a sizable field on Saturday with 16 runners confirmed. However, we will only see 15 runners take part now as Icarian Dream has been scratched from the race (at the time of writing). 

My Saturday tips have landed here at OnlyRacing and I’m looking to bag some winners across the three Group One races this Saturday! In total, I’ve put together five best bets for the 2025 Blue Diamond Stakes, so there’s something that should tickle everyone's fancy.

I think the race tempo will be as fast as The Playwright wants to take it. She looks to be the only runner in this one that has true barrier speed and her chances of taking out this one were improved by the barrier draw (she jumps from barrier three). 

The current narrow favourite with PlayUp, Field Of Play, will likely look to settle in close to The Playwright. Cherish Me, who is currently on the second line of betting, will likely take the opposite route, sitting back with cover near the rear of the field, waiting for her chance to strike.

It took me a minute, but I’ve landed on Cherish Me as my best bet for the 2025 Blue Diamond Stakes. The filly opened with odds of $7.00 at PlayUp, but she is now paying $5.00, whereas the pre-race favourite (Field Of Play) hasn’t seen his odds shorten. She put her rivals to the sword in her first career race back in January. 

In that race, she won by 2L and she ran the fastest last 200m of the card. Trainer Ciaron Maher knows how to train a 2YO. I think he has big plans for the filly and it all starts here with the Blue Diamond Stakes. Maher has kept her fresh for this one and draws barrier six, which I think can only help her chances.

For my safe bet, I’m going with the narrow pre-race favourite, Field Of Play. I can see why the gelding is the favourite, he put in an eye-catching performance in the Group 3 Blue Diamond Prelude at Caulfield two weeks ago, winning by 0.4L. Field Of Play is going around with odds of $5.00 at Bet365.

The Diamond Prelude is one of the key lead-up races for the Blue Diamond Stakes. On top of this, the favourite does have a fairly good strike rate in this race, at about 50%. We’ve only seen Field Of Play race twice in his career so far, but they have both been wins and another win in a Group One race will set his career up quite nicely.

I think there’s a lot of value to be had with The Playwright. As I previously mentioned, she is the sole runner with true barrier speed, so she’ll likely get it all his own way in the beginning, especially from barrier three. If she can take advantage of that, she’ll be in with a chance in this one.

She put in a great performance in the Group Three Widden Stakes last time out and I’m expecting similar race tactics to be used in this one. Jockey Regan Bayliss sticks with her again and she is currently paying $15 with Dabble to take out the victory on Saturday. At $15, I believe that’s overs and she’s a serious contender in this one.

Tempted poses a real threat to both Cherish Me and Field Of Play I think. The filly is currently on the third line of betting with QuestBet at odds of $7.75. So, while she is a danger in this one, she also presents some good value! Comparatively speaking, she comes into the Blue Diamond Stakes with a little bit more experience.

She has a career record of 2:1-1-0 and also has three trials under her belt. The wide barrier doesn’t really help her chances, but she’ll probably settle mid-field and wait for her chance to strike. She’s another who has come through the Widden Stakes, where she finished second behind The Playwright (my value bet for the Blue Diamond Stakes).

With an open field that we see for the Blue Diamond Stakes, there are a lot of runners going around with roughie odds and one runner in particular that I like the look of is Extractor. Like with Tempted, Extractor has a bit more experience in his legs, with a career record of 2: 0-0-2 along with three trials so far in his career.

The colt is currently going around with odds of $15 thanks to Bet Right and has been in and around the finish alongside some quality runners including West Of Swindon, Icarian Dream and O’Ole (who just won the Magic Millions 2YO Classic). There looks to be plenty of upside to Extractor and his Sydney form looks to be holding up. One for the wider exotics!

All my Blue Diamond Stakes horse racing tips and their odds can be found here:

Bookmaker	Tip	Odds
	Cherish Me (win)	$5.00
	Field Of Play (each-way)	$5.00/$2.20
	The Playwright (place)	$4.20
	Tempted (place)	$2.70
	Extractor (place)	$4.40