It was the first time the Melbourne Racing Club had received more than 700 initial acceptances, with owners happy to pay the $330 fee to keep their horse in the hunt for Victoria's richest two-year-old race.
The powerful Hayes / Dabernig training partnership won the race in 2017 with Catchy and have 77 juveniles still in the running, which is 31 more than the next highest stables, Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott as well as Tony McEvoy.
Yarraman Park's super sire I Am Invincible heads the stallion tally of Blue
Diamond first acceptors with 48 of his progeny eligible to run in the $1.5
million feature on February 24 with reigning champion sire Snitzel not far
behind with 43.Fastnet Rock, who sired the previous winner Catchy has 28 in the mix including her full sister Symi, who made $700,000 at the Magic Millions when bought by Alan Bell. She has been entered by Hawkes Racing.
Second acceptors for the Blue Diamond Stakes close at noon on January 9.
