Rojo Diamond Breaks Hobart Benchmark

ROJO Diamond broke a 13-year-old record for the greatest number of wins at Hobart when winning his 28th race at the venue to take out the Grand Masters Final (461m) on Thursday night.

The benchmark was formerly set by Sultan's Swing, trained by Ted Medhurst, winning 27 on the U-turn track.

Rojo Diamond, trained at St. Leonards by Robin Grubb for the Golden Nugget Syndicate, brought up his 41st career victory when he led throughout off box three over Nail ‘Em Fencer, stopping the clock at 25.85s.

In 78 starts, the magnificent son of Fabregas and Sing The Song took his prizemoney earnings to $222,405, which also puts him in the top 20 bracket of Tasmania's highest ever earners.

Robin Grubb, who trains and also bred the four-year-old sprinter, is in total awe of the dog.

“Great achievement, the dog has been very special to us, you can't ask anymore of him,” Robin Grubb said.

“He jumped clean at the start, once we got away from Nail ‘Em Fencer and around the first corner without any trouble, I was positive that he could get the job done – his time overall was close off being best of the night.”

Rojo Diamond's wins at Hobart have been spread out over the 340 metres and 461 metres in 50 appearances.

Tipping the scales at 37 kilograms, Rojo Diamond has recorded feature victories at Hobart in the Group 3 Ladbrokes Chase Final, Tasmanian Gold Cup Final, Easter Cup, Silver Trophy and the Ronald McDonald Cup.

He was also a finalist twice in the Group 1 Ladbrokes Hobart Thousand and crowned Tasmanian GOTY.

“Prior to this masters' series, he hadn't raced for almost a month and just needed a few runs to really get back to his peak level, wasn't far off another best, he has pulled up well with no issues which is perfect,” Robin said.

Rojo Diamond will now march towards the Reg & Aileen Ivory Memorial Classic heats in Hobart on 7 May.