KEY POINTS:
David Hayes trained his third successive Blue Diamond Stakes quinella but the moment belonged to jockey Dwayne Dunn who kept his unbeaten record intact in the $1 million feature on Reaan at Caulfield yeserday.
For the fourth year in a row Dunn saluted in Victoria's premier 2-year-old event when Reaan scored by a long neck from stablemate All American with the Tony Vasil-trained Burgeis a long head away third.
Dunn plotted the same centre of the track path to victory as he had with his only previous Blue Diamond rides on Undoubtedly (2005), Nadeem (2006) and Sleek Chassis (2007).
"He just travelled so good it was like riding Sleek Chassis last year," Dunn said.
Dunn joins an elite band who have ridden four or more winners in a major race in Australia in successive years but it is doubtful any achieved such a feat at their first four rides in the same race.
The most recent was Shane Dye who won four Golden Slippers between 1989 and 1992.
Jim Johnson won four years in a row in both the Mackinnon Stakes (1965 to 1968) and the Caulfield Stakes (1964-67).
The legendary Bobbie Lewis steered home four consecutive VRC Oaks winners (1912-15), Jim Pike four Victoria Derby winners (1928-31) including Phar Lap, Bill Williamson four VRC Sires' Produce Stakes winners (1949-52) and Michael Clarke four CF Orr Stakes winners (1984-87).
Dunn is now looking ahead to emulating Gary Willetts, Higgins and Donald Nicholson who posted five consecutive wins.
New Zealander Willetts and Manikato won the William Reid Stakes, now the Australia Stakes, from 1979 to 1983 while Higgins posted wins in the VRC Sires' Produce Stakes from 1971 to 1975 and Nicholson five in the Epsom Handicap (1880 to 1884).
- AAP
