Samara Dancer Races Into Blue Diamond Contention

Unbeaten Samara Dancer (NZ) (Hinchinbrook), is a genuine contender for the Group 1 A$1.5m Blue Diamond (1200m), after she trounced her rivals in the Group 2 A$200,000 Blue Diamond Prelude (1100m), at Caulfield on Saturday.

Samara Dancer (NZ) winning the Group 2 Blue Diamond Prelude.

Samara Dancer heads towards the first Group One race this season for juveniles, after maintaining her unbeaten tag from two starts, winning the fillies division of the Blue Diamond Preludes.

The South Australian trained filly won on debut at Morphettville in November, and showed enough promise for her trainer Phillip Stokes to take her to Melbourne for the early juvenile Group races.

Having her first run back from a spell, the talented Hinchinbrook filly settled back beyond midfield for rider Dom Tourneur, before unleashing a brilliant burst of speed to beat Concealer (Nicconi) by a length, with Miss Nymeria (Stryker) another three-quarters of a length away in third. The winning time was 1:03:11.

Samara Dancer was purchased by Stokes for NZ$130,000 at the 2015 Karaka Premier Sale (Lot 371).

After two unbeaten starts, her earnings are A$146,000.

“She’s pretty good – she’s shown us plenty at home but she had to measure up to this lot and she’s definitely done that. She’ll only get better,” trainer Stokes said.

Samara Dancer is the third winner from Ennerdale, an unraced Singspiel daughter of Group 2 winner Whitehaven, whose dam White Star Line won the Group One Kentucky Oaks.

Last year, Ennerdale produced a colt by New Zealand Horse of the Year Ocean Park.

Samara Dancer is a half-sister to Stakes winner Eclair Big Bang (NZ) (Savabeel). The gelding has won five of his 16 starts, including the Group 3 Caulfield Guineas Prelude (1400m), when trained by Phillip Stokes. Eclair Big Bang now races in Hong Kong, under the name Almababy.