Diamond Rain looks another gem following Newcastle win

Diamond Rain continued her unbeaten season and registered a first Group-race success with an impressive display in the G3 Hoppings Stakes at Newcastle on Friday. 

The four-year-old, from the final crop of Shamardal and out of English and German Oaks scorer Dancing Rain, took her career record to four wins from six starts as she readily beat the G1-placed Tasmania. 

A Listed winner at Haydock Park on her previous start in 2025, Diamond Rain was making a first appearance on an all-weather surface and is set to return to turf for her next start, although the aptly named filly needs softer ground to show her best form. 

She looks a contender for some of the top middle-distance races against her own sex in the autumn. The G1 British Champions Fillies' And Mares' Stakes, won by her dam in 2011, could be a feasible long-term aim. 

Scents Blood has also made a strong start to his campaign in Japan, and the three-year-old colt filled the runner-up spot for a second successive time in Sunday’s G3 Radio Nikkei Sho at Fukushima. The Rulership homebred has finished first or second on six of his seven appearances and can hopefully secure a first Pattern race success over the coming months. 

Thunder Snow colt Narukami could also have Group races on his agenda after taking a Stakes race on Fukushima’s dirt course by five lengths on Saturday, while G2 Hochi Hai Fillies' Revue fourth Imbroglio readily won a Kokura allowance race on the same day. 

First Mission emerged with plenty of credit in defeat as he finished third in a deep renewal of the G1 Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs on Saturday. 

The Street Sense entire rallied to go down by just over two lengths behind Mindframe and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Sierra Leone, with last year’s Kentucky Derby hero Mystik Dan and the 2025 Dubai World Cup victor Hit Show in arrears. 

A G1 win remains the main target for First Mission, who has posted four decisive wins at G2 and G3 level. Stablemate Highland Falls already has a top-level success on his CV, and last season’s Jockey Club Gold Cup winner made an impressive return to action in an allowance optional claimer at Aqueduct on Friday.