Diatonic X Diamond Delight

Pound for pound, Joe Pride is considered one of the best trainers in Australia. From a medium-sized stable, Joe consistently wins major races.

Unlike most horse trainers, Joe does not hail from a family embedded in the racehorse industry. In fact, he initially studied psychology at Sydney University before his passion for racehorses took over.

He had to build his own legacy from the ground up and has enjoyed extraordinary success in a relatively short space of time. Joe’s swift rise to the top of Sydney’s training ranks can be attributed to a number of factors but none more so than the early influence of John Size. Joe spent four years with John at Randwick before being given a once in a lifetime opportunity. When John left for Hong Kong, he helped Joe establish a stable and clients which provided the platform from which his career would later flourish.

Now training at Warwick Farm, Joe has carved out a tremendously successful career with a reputation for being able to rejuvenate older horses, most notably dual-Group 1 winner Vision And Power. The son of Carnegie arrived at Joe’s stables with a record of 19 starts for one win and was coming off a 30 length defeat in a hurdle trial. Those who are familiar with the remarkable story will recall that Vision And Power won back-to-back Group 1’s in the George Ryder Stakes and Doncaster Mile only 18 months later. Those pair of Group 1’s were the horse’s ninth and tenth run of a preparation.

Joe has also been able to capture Group 1 wins with other tried horses such as Sacred Choice (2010 Myer Classic, 2011 Doncaster Handicap), Eduardo (2021 Galaxy, 2021 Doomben 10,000), Steps In Time (2014 Coolmore Classic) and Mariamia (2023 Galaxy).

Joe and Proven Thoroughbreds have celebrated multiple successes at the elite level together – highlighted by Think About It (2023 The Everest, 2023 Stradbroke Handicap, 2023 Kingsford Smith Cup) and Private Eye (2021 Epsom Handicap, 2022 Winners Stakes).

Yulong Stud are delighted to announce Diatonic as an exciting addition to their stallion roster for 2023.

Bred and campaigned in the high quality racing nation of Japan, Diatonic is a three-time Group 2 winner over 1400m and Group 1-placed. With the equivalent of $5.2 million in career earnings, he showed his class against the elite of Japanese racing.

Not only are their racehorses increasingly successful on the world stage, Japanese stallions have proven their class in Australia with Maurice and Satono Aladdin adding to the elite portfolio of sire success started by Deep Impact. Diatonic is uniquely credentialled to build on that success.

By Lord Kanaloa, he shares the same sire as Yulong’s own G1 Blue Diamond winner Tagaloa. Bred on the same cross as Japanese superstar Almond Eye, he’s out of a mare by Sunday Silence; the most influential sire in Japan and sire of Deep Impact, Heart’s Cry and Sunday Joy.

His pedigree has enormous depth too, with Diatonic descending from the direct female line of Cosmah, the dam of Halo and a half-sister to Natalma, the dam of Northern Dancer.

A talented racehorse, Diatonic won on debut as a 2-year-old, and would go on to twice win the G2 Swan Stakes (1400m), latterly in the fastest time in a decade – the same race won by exciting young sire Satono Aladdin.

Overall, Diatonic won 10 of his 26 starts and proved himself an elite and consistent throughout.

“Diatonic has a very unique profile that caught the interest of Mr Zhang and the team at Yulong,” said Sam Fairgray, Chief Operating Officer at Yulong Investments.

“His incredible pedigree, consistent performances in high quality races coupled with the global success of the Japanese thoroughbred was incredibly appealing.”

“Diatonic won the same race as Rich Hill’s talented young sire Satono Aladdin, he’s by the same sire as our Blue Diamond winning stallion Tagaloa, and was bred on the same cross as Japanese superstar Almond Eye. He’s also physically imposing, so we’re delighted to be able to support him with our top mares and offer him to the Australian market.”

When placing third in the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen, he finished behind multiple champion Gran Alegria (Deep Impact) and beat home six Group 1 winners including Hong Kong Sprint winner Danon Smash (Lord Kanaloa).

With the outcross success of Japanese-breds in recent years proving that their bloodlines are a valuable asset to Australian breeders, Yulong are excited to offer Diatonic in his debut season.

Yulong