35 minutes ago
4
Craig Kerry
April 30, 2026 — 5:00pm
Trainer David Pfieffer was confident he had Oh Diamond Lil in great shape in February for her return in the group 2 Millie Fox Stakes after two sharp trials.
The five-year-old mare had finished alongside Willaidow before winning by five and a half lengths in her second hit-out.
Unbeknown to Pfieffer and jockey Jason Collett, the front-running talent was performing well despite likely having an epiglottis entrapment, an upper airway obstruction, which was then fixed with minor laser surgery.
Now the Warwick Farm trainer hopes Oh Diamond Lil can rise to even greater heights when she makes a belated return in the $250,000 group 3 Hawkesbury Crown (1300m) on Saturday.
“I thought I had her spot on,” Pfieffer said of the lead-up to the February 21 Millie Fox.
“I gave her last gallop and as a precautionary thing, I thought I’d scope her and we found an epiglottis entrapment, so we had to get a small procedure to fix it up.
“We don’t know how long it was there and, at the end of the day, I wouldn’t have found it unless I scoped her because Jason did the final gallop on her and he thought she was ready to go.
“She had a tick-over trial the other day, she’s very fit, she’s ready to go, and I think she will go really well on the weekend.”
Oh Diamond Lil won her first trial back from the surgery by 2.2 lengths under a tight hold at Rosehill on April 27.
She was a $3.60 TAB favourite for the fillies and mares feature on Saturday with a middle draw in eight and Nash Rawiller taking over from Collett, who is riding at Eagle Farm.
Oh Diamond Lil won the Tibbie Stakes (1400m), another group 3 for fillies and mares, at Newcastle first-up last campaign in September off a short break. She led that day from a similar draw and kicked late for a one-length win, and Pfieffer hoped for a repeat.
“I think the barrier works really well for her,” he said.
“If you draw out wide, you’ve got to try to cross them all, and sometimes on the inside you got to push to stop them all crossing you, so drawing the middle there is ideal.”
A $200,000 yearling buy for Pfieffer and Koolman Bloodstock, Oh Diamond Lil has seven wins, five placings and $633,100 in stakes from 17 starts.
Beyond Saturday, Pfieffer was eyeing another group 3 for Oh Diamond Lil, the Dark Jewel Classic (1400m) at Scone on May 16, against her own sex before a potential shot at the $500,000 Magic Millions National Classic (1600m) on June 6 at Eagle Farm.
“I dare say she’s probably got another year in her, and she’s got a nice preparation coming,” he said.
Pfieffer said Call Me Gorgeous and exciting three-year-old Ice Kool could join Oh Diamond Lil at the Queensland winter carnival. Call Me Gorgeous was held up for a run when third as favourite last Saturday at Randwick and heads to Scone for an 1100m benchmark 78 handicap, while Ice Kool will have a second trial next Friday before resuming at Rosehill on May 30.
Rawiller, meanwhile, was pleased to get a first chance with Oh Diamond Lil.
“She’s been a good mare and makes her own luck,” said Rawiller, who had a winning double on last year’s annual Hawkesbury standalone program.
Rawiller has won the past two Hawkesbury Gold Cups and will ride Melbourne Cup placegetter Middle Earth on Saturday, despite initially being on Chris Waller-trained Osipenko, which then drew poorly in 18 and will likely race instead at Bendigo in the Golden Mile. Ciaron Maher-trained Middle Earth was second up and $51.
He has better chances in the other features, the group 3 Hawkesbury Guineas (1400m) with David Atkins-trained Buffalo ($7) and the listed Gold Rush (1100m) with Matt Smith-prepared Way To The Stars.
Buffalo drew wide in the $1 million Provincial-Midway Championship Final (1400m) last start and rattled home down the outside from last to fourth. The ATC Sires’ Produce placegetter has to overcome an outside barrier again on Saturday but Rawiller was glad to be with him.
“He likes a bit of room, which was against the bias there on the day, and I thought he did an amazing job,” Rawiller said of the last start.
“He ran terrific and Dave had him great order. I thought he could bounce back. We had a few offers in this race and I was really keen to stick with Buffalo.
“Way To The Stars, he’s been a horse I’ve ridden throughout his career and he’s been a little ripper.
“I trialled him there not long ago and he went great. That’s a nice weight [56.5kg] for him. I’ve ridden him quite a few times at Rosehill and he’s had to carry 61, and it makes it hard for him, but at that weight, he’d be very competitive.”
Rawiller also partners Golden Straand ($2.30, race five) and Viewpoint ($3.50, three), who he took to last-start wins, and the promising The Roaring Sun ($4.60, one).
