Palm Angel flies into Blue Diamond contention
The Jason Warren-trained Palm Angel also rocketed firmly into Blue Diamond calculations after she turned the tables on the previously unbeaten filly My Gladiola with a powerful late surge to triumph in the Blue Diamond Prelude (F) (Gr 2, 1100m).
The chestnut filly, who was bred by Rosemont and is also raced by Anthony Mithen’s Gnarwarre-based operation, breezed past the odds-on favourite under Ethan Brown to score her second stakes success following her victory on debut in the Merson Cooper Stakes (Listed, 1000m).
By Coolmore’s shuttle stallion Starspangledbanner (Choisir) out of the Pivotal (Polar Falcon) mare Noblest, she was bred on the same cross as Brooklyn Hustle who raced with such distinction for Rosemont and trainer Warren.
Brooklyn Hustle finished fifth – beaten one-and-a-half-lengths – in the 2019 Blue Diamond Stakes, but Palm Angel has every chance of improving on that performance if she can maintain her upward trajectory.
“We went into her first-up run in the Preview a little bit soft, we’d gone there with only one jumpout under our belt with a view that our grand final was still six weeks away,” said Warren.
“So we used that run to bring her on. The barrier draw last start forced the issue, so we didn’t knock her around and felt that we would come here much improved and I think we can tighten up a little bit further into the Blue Diamond in two weeks’ time.
“I don’t feel that she needs to be ridden for speed, she’s just got a good natural cruising speed. We labelled her very early on as a high-class filly. I rang Ethan about three weeks before her first jumpout and said, ‘I think we’ve got another one here’.”
Brown echoed those sentiments as he paid tribute to Palm Angel’s “great constitution”.
“She did have a soft run from the gate, she dropped the bit nicely, then once she got off My Gladiola’s back she really sprinted down well,” he added.
“I only hit her once or twice, she did the rest herself and it was quite a soft win. She’s got the ability to deal with pressure. She put the writing on the wall her first start and she ran well the other day, but I said to Jase ‘you’ve got to just trust she’s going to improve out of the run’, and she certainly did that.
“She was prepared in terrific order by Jase and the team, and I’m just rapt to be on her.”
Noblest was bought by Rosemont for €125,000 at the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale in 2016 and she is a sister to dual Group 1-winning champion Peeress, who produced stakes winner Ladyship (Oasis Dream), the dam of the 2024 shock Lockinge Stakes (Gr 1, 1m) winner Audience (Iffraaj).
The fillies’ Prelude has proved a recipe for success for subsequent Blue Diamond success down the years, with Hayasugi (Royal Meeting), Lyre (Lonhro) and Catchy (Fastnet Rock) all winning the race en route to winning the juvenile Group 1 a few weeks later.