Influential owner and breeder David Moodie casts a long shadow over Saturday's Blue Diamond Preludes that goes well beyond his two homebred fillies Limestone (Helmet) and Arctic Angel (Hard Spun).
Also in the fillies division is the Robbie Griffiths debutant Fabrication (Hard Spun) who comes from that wonderful Contract Racing family of the superb broodmare Razor Blade, while in the colts and gelding division are the highly fancied pair Property and Cao Cao (photo Grant Courtney).
The Blue Diamond Preview winner Property is a grandson of Opal Fire (Hurricane Sky) a sister to Contract Racing's Group I CF Orr Stakes and Group I Futurity Stakes winner Desert Sky.
Cao Cao also descends from a mare by Moodie's dual Group I winner Hurricane Sky who won the Blue Diamond Stakes in 1994 and was arguably a tragedy beaten in Danzero's Golden Slipper.
When the River Rough mare Ride The Rapids visited Hurricane Sky in 1998 and 1999, the first mating left the Group I Oakleigh Plate heroine River Dove and the second left the filly River Serenade whose only win in eight starts came in a Ballarat maiden.
When Moodie sold River Dove at the 2005 Inglis Easter Broodmare sale he pocketed $800,000 from the coffers of Cressfield Stud.
It worked out well for Cressfield who sold four foals by River Dove for a total of $5,560,000 at an average of $1,390,000.00.
She is the dam of the ill-fated $4 million Fastnet Rock colt Emaratee while her best performer on the track has been the $500,000 Exceed And Excel colt Headwater (photo by Mark Smith) who covered 167
Two years before selling River Dove, Moodie had parted with River Serenade for a more modest $80,000 to the bid of Gerry Harvey's Baramul Stud.
While Harvey did not have the windfall in the sales ring to match Cressfield, River Serenade became a high-achiever at stud.
Among her first six winners are the Group II winner and Group I placed near millionaire First Command (Commands ) and the Hong Kong Group II winner One World (Danehill Dancer) who placed in the Group 1 Golden Shaheen.
Gerry Harvey retained River Serenade's ninth foal, the now 3yo Fastnet Rock filly Red Is The Rose who looks a sure-fire winner for her dam going on her close-up third at Sandown on Wednesday at just her second start.
River Serenade is also the dam of the stakes-placed Rule The River (Commands) and the 4-time winning Encosta de Lago mare Serenada whose son Cao Cao looks to have a favourite's chance in Saturday's $200,000 Group III Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Prelude (C&G) (1100m) at Caulfield.
The Mick Price-trained colt carries the colours of Sun Bloodstock who purchased the son of Fastnet Rock for $350,000 out of the Baramul Stud consignment at the 2016 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling sale.
A luckless second in the Group III Maribyrnong Plate at Flemington on November 5, Cao Cao was a hugely impressive winner of the Whiteman Property Plate (1000m) at Moonee Valley on November 26.
The decision was to miss the 2 million Magic Millions 2YO Classic at the Gold Coast on January 14 and be kept fresh for the Blue Diamond series.
