Versatile Diamond Oops Shines In G2 Turf Sprint

A dual graded stakes winner on dirt, Diamond Oops (5g Lookin At Lucky x Patriotic Viva, by Whywhywhy) added a graded stakes on turf to his resume Friday with a win in the Grade 2 Twin Spires Turf Sprint S. presented by Sysco.

Breaking from the inside post in the 5½ furlong turf race, Diamond Oops was willing to bide his time as the last marker in the field under Florent Geroux. It wasn’t until they closed in on the stretch that the gelding used his inside position to slide up the rail and go from last to just behind the leaders by the final furlong.

Passing just one horse on the outside, Diamond Oops reclaimed his inner spot late in the race to take over the lead in the final strides to win by a neck.

Owned by Diamond 100 Racing Club, Amy Dunne, D P Racing, and trainer Patrick Biancone, Diamond Oops was winning his sixth race in 15 career starts. The gelding inched closer to the $1 million mark with $938,590 in earnings and two Grade I placings in his career.

“He ran big. He's an amazing horse,” said Geroux. “Patrick always told me this horse has a little bit of some kind of physical problems, but he has the heart of a champion. He'll run on any kind of surface, any distance, from six furlongs to a mile. We saw him last year when he almost pulled it off in the (Grade1) Shadwell Turf Mile. I have no idea what's next for him, because he runs turf, he runs dirt, he does everything."

The Kin Hui Racing Stables-bred is one of two stakes winners for stakes winning Patriotic Viva alongside Listed winning Patriotic Diamond with the mare also the dam of Munnings’ winning daughter Super Patriotic. They all hail from the family of dual Grade I winner It’s The One.

A champion racehorse himself Lookin At Lucky continues to perform year after as a sire with 57 stakes winners worldwide, with five stakes winners and 14 stakes horses in 2020 led by Grade II winner Wells Bayou.