Written by Georgie Dennis
Progressive mare Diamond Effort (Mossman) could become the next star among the sprinting ranks and her trainer Clinton McDonald will give her every possible chance to do so.
The 5-year-old daughter of Mossman kicked off her spring campaign with a gutsy win in the G3 Heath S. on Saturday which marked the second stakes win of her career and eighth victory overall.
The Caulfield trainer was thrilled that she was able to begin her preparation with the valuable win but said there is still plenty more left in her tank.
“It’s always nice to kick off the preparation with a win and add another stakes race to her credentials so it was fantastic,” McDonald told TDN AusNZ.
“We thought she’d be very hard to beat but she’s definitely got improvement left in her.”
Undefeated since October last year, Diamond Effort won all four of her autumn starts, including the Listed Hareeba S. at Mornington but this time in, she has her sights set much higher than Listed grade.
She is set to contest her first Group 1 at her next start, which McDonald will use as a guide to determine what her ceiling is and what the rest of her spring will look like.
“We’ll go to the G1 Moir S. at The Valley next start,” McDonald said.
“We’ll go to the G1 Moir S. at The Valley next start." - Clinton McDonald
“The next race is a Group 1 so any Group 1 is a good target.
“Nowadays you’ve got The Everest and you’ve obviously got the G1 Manikato S. and the Darley, so we just need to know where the ceiling is with her and then we can work out which path we take.
“Whether we keep going for those Group 1s or we lower our sights and go for the G2 Schillaci S. or the G2 Linlithgow S. on Derby day down the straight. It all depends on her next run really.”
Diamond Effort’s family is one that has provided McDonald’s stable with plenty of success. He also prepared her brother Second Effort which is what prompted him to purchase the mare at the 2017 Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale.
Diamond Effort as a yearling
“I trained the full brother, Second Effort, and we saw Diamond Effort at the Melbourne Premier Sale and we bought her for $140,000,” he said.
Like his sister, Second Effort took a while to mature. He didn’t hit the racetrack until the autumn of his 3-year-old year and landed his first stakes race in the Listed Wangoom H. as a 5-year-old.
The gelding went on to win the G2 PB Lawrence S., the G3 Bletchingly S., a second Wangoom and place at stakes level a further four times.
Second Effort ran his final race in March, 2014, finishing his career with 11 wins and eight placings from 36 starts and $680,703 in prizemoney in the bank.
Diamond Effort (white cap) winning the G3 Heath S.
Diamond Effort had one run as a late 2-year-old before being put away until February last year.
At 5-years-old, she has only had 14 starts but McDonald said that his early patience is now paying off.
“She took a bit of time to come to hand,” he said. “But the whole family is a family that you need to give time to and that’s what we’ve done with her and the owners are reaping the rewards now.”
