HALLANDALE BEACH - A month after Shirl’s Bee finished second in the 2023, Gr. III UAE Two Thousand Guineas at Meydan, trainer Patrick Biancone and longtime partner Diamond 100 Racing Club purchased his full sister for $75,000 at the OBS March 2-year-olds-in-training sale.

    New Diamond, a 2-year-old daughter of Bee Jersey, made that winning bid look like a bargain with a dazzling 2 ½-length going-away debut victory today at Gulfstream Park. The Charles Fipke-bred filly and Shirl’s Bee are out of Shirl’s Soul, who is a daughter of multiple graded stakes-winner Lady Shirl and who also produced Spike’s Shirl and More Than Shirl, both 10-race winners.

    “She was a good buy. Her full brother won first time out very easily in Dubai and then he finished second in the Dubai Guineas. He was one of the favorites for the [UAE] Derby but he got an injury and I think didn’t run again.” Biancone said.

    New Diamond brushed the starting gate while breaking from the rail position before settling well off the pace in Race 2, a $65,000 maiden special weight race for juvenile fillies. Jockey Skylar Spanabel continued to save ground aboard the Kentucky-bred filly into the stretch before swinging to the outside at the eighth pole. New Diamond kicked in powerfully to storm past favored pacesetter Mist on her way to a convincing score.

    “When they run for the first time, I want a ride like that. A good jump, no rush, and stay on the rail and come out in the stretch,” said Biancone of Spanabel’s ride.” That’s what she did,” She’s very talented.”

    New Diamond ($5.60), who ran six furlongs in 1:13.06, was Spanabel’s first winner in 24 mounts this year since returning from injuries sustained at Delaware Park last year.

    New Diamond may have earned a cross-country trip for her next start.
   
    “We’ll see how she comes out of the race. She’s nominated to the Debutante at Del Mar. We may send her there,” Biancone said. The $300,000, Gr. I Debutante is scheduled for Sept. 9.

Saturday’s Rainbow 6 Gross Jackpot Pool Guaranteed 

    The 20-cent Rainbow 6 Gross Jackpot Pool will be guaranteed at $150,000 Saturday, after the multi-race wager went unsolved for the sixth day following a mandatory payout. The sequence will span Races 5-10, headlined by the $75,000 Powder Break in Race 8. Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Transient, who was graded stakes-placed three times during the Championship Meet, is rated at 5-2 in the morning-line for the mile-and-70-yard stakes for fillies and mares on Tapeta. comments powered by Disqus