Unfortunately, with the majority of the Magic Millions called off, we'll need to wait another week to look at the highlights from the Gold Coast. Instead, with a couple of smart looking two-year-olds stepping out in Melbourne recently, we're going to look at the Group 1 Blue Diamond (1200m) picture, to be run at Sandown on February 25.

I'm sure more horses will put their hand up with just ten days until the preludes, to be run midweek on Australia Day, but all the talk has been of three key chances who will target the race.

King's Gambit to A1

Holding the call as one of two runners in single figures is King's Gambit, who could hardly have been more impressive at his debut, winning by 5 lengths with seemingly more in hand.

His rating of 106 with Timeform is the highest two-year-old rating in Victoria this season, and sits just behind the likes of Empire Of Japan in Sydney.

Typically, the Magic Millions Debutant race which King's Gambit won has been a shaky form line- of the past three winners, two made it to the Blue Diamond, with Kiki Express (12th) and Tanker (13th) struggling.

That being said, the mean rating of those three was 98.33, some 8 pounds off King's Gambit, and he would be unconcerned by the record of past Debutant winners in the Blue Diamond. A recent Sydney trial suggests he is humming along and the market is right in having him as the #1 seed.

The only question is whether he is 100% going- with the strength of his win, and how he's trialled in Sydney, perhaps Newgate put all of their eggs in the Golden Slipper basket.

Veecee dominant on debut

The colt by Capitalist rocketed into Blue Diamond contention with a big win on Saturday, coming from off-midfield to win with a hint of class, racing away by 2.5 lengths. Running to 100+ on debut is always a good sign and Veecee (102) looks set to relish 1200m having come home in easily the fastest splits of the race.

Take out runners from the Group 3 Standish Handicap (1200m) and Veecee would've topped the day's last 600m which bodes well.

That being said, there have been a few horses pre 2023 that posted similar numbers down the straight. Perhaps none were as dominant and strong late as Veecee, but I'd argue there's a hint of recency bias in his single figure price.

The Instructor gives them a lesson

The fact this Waterhouse & Bott two-year-old kicked off in a Cranbourne maiden, rather than a Saturday race or higher perhaps suggests he wasn't as highly rated as say, Red Resistance, who won the opener at Rosehill.

That may have changed a touch as he led all of the way to win by 3 lengths, a win that saw his odds slashed into $7 for the Blue Diamond. I'm not knocking horses coming through provincial maidens on their way to Group 1's- especially as a two-year-old, but that price seems very short.

He did run the fastest Racing & Sports speed figure of the card but that isn't saying much, and that figure of 81.9 has plenty to find. I know he did it easily and his Timeform rating of 95 certainly has scope to improve against a better class of horse, but if I were forming a head-to-head market with he and King's Gambit, I'd have it ~ $1.30 vs $4.50.

That's roughly 350% difference in price, compared to the 155% difference now.

The roughies

Of course, those three are not the only horses in the market, and there are a number of horses who have run up to similar (if not better) marks than the likes of Veecee. One that springs to mind is Charm Stone, who I think is the best of the early season two-year-old Flemington form.

She started favourite on debut in the Listed Maribyrnong Trial Stakes (1000m) but raced greenly, before a stylish win in the Group 3 Darley Ottawa Stakes (1000m). Her speed figure there of 100.4 far betters what Veecee did on Saturday and her Timeform rating of 100 as a filly stacks up.

If I were to have a bet (and what kind of form analyst would I be if didn't put my money where my mouth is), she'd be the one, even after she's come in from $61 today. She should be shorter than the likes of Krakarib, Zulfiqar and Aditi.