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By Ray Hickson

Diamond Diesel is fast closing on being trainer Adam Duggan’s winningest horse and he’ll move into second place on the charts if he adds Saturday’s Listed $200,000 The Agency Civic Stakes (1400m) to his record.

Trainer Adam Duggan (Pic: Steve Hart)

With seven wins to his name the former Hong Kong galloper sits behind Kopite, who won nine races, and Frozen Rope, a winner of eight races, but he’s already easily the highest stakeswinner Duggan has trained with over $433,000 in the bank.

A stress fracture to his shoulder cut Diamond Diesel’s Hong Kong career short and while it’s fair to say he’s exceeded expectations the trainer is confident he’s not finished winning races yet and would like to think he can make it to double figures.

“He’s kept improving a bit and taken the next step. I thought he was going to be a handy horse to win a couple of midways,’’ Duggan said.

“We don’t often receive these horses that are so lightly raced at that time of maturity.

“He’s furnished out into this lovely big horse, his racing smarts got a bit better as his preparations went on. He’s really found his form.”

With two wins from his past three starts, and seven from 20 overall, Diamond Diesel has earned a shot at stakes company at Randwick and if he measures up it will open up plenty of options in the coming weeks.

The Civic is the first of three Listed winter series races run in the next month – the Winter Stakes (1400m) follows in two weeks then the Winter Challenge (1500m), run at Rosehill, is a fortnight later.

Duggan said if Diamond Diesel, $8 with TAB on Thursday, can back up his impressive win at Randwick from last month, where he carried 59.5kg to an easy victory, he might chase a Big Dance ticket via the South Grafton Cup instead.

He drops to 53kg in the Civic with Andrew Adkins taking the ride.

“Because of his benchmark he had to go to a 78 and he’s won a couple of them carrying top weight,’’ he said.

“I know it’s probably a weaker time of year but he hasn’t just won, he’s won by a length going away.

“This was the race we found, he seems to have a real affinity with Randwick, and we thought why not have a crack.

“It’s going to be harder, I doubt his record will remain as good as it looks at the moment. I hope it does but when you get up to this grade you need everything to go right.”

The South Grafton Cup, run over 1600m on July 14, would be Diamond Diesel’s second run at a mile.

Diamond Diesel wins at Randwick on May 25

Duggan said he showed enough in his third placing at that first attempt, at just his fourth start for the trainer, to say with a couple more preparations under his belt now it’s not beyond him.

“It’s over a mile so we’d be stretching him a little bit but he’s had that mile run in his first preparation and I think ridden the right way he’d run the mile out,’’ he said.

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday's Randwick meeting