Hawkes: Devil Night a "sneaky" chance to win Group 1 before retirement

By Connor Scanlon

Devil Night will be retired to stud at Yulong Investments’ new Hunter Valley base at Segenhoe Stud in New South Wales for the 2026 breeding season.

However, before retiring, the 2025 Blue Diamond (1200m) winner will compete in the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 (1200m) on Saturday.

The colt by Extreme Choice is currently $10 with Sportsbet to win the $1.5 million sprint and co-trainer Michael Hawkes believes the chestnut is “flying” heading into the Doomben 10,000.

“He's heading to stud, Yulong have known that. He's actually an exciting horse going to stud up in the Hunter at (Valley roster) the new Segenhoe,” John & Wayne Hawkes’ co-trainer told SENTrack & RSN’s Giddy Up.

“We've got a job to do and we're trying to get that Group 1 again. His form's actually ridiculous. He's well in this (to win the Doomben 10,000).

“I can't fault him. The horse is outstanding and he's actually going great guns.

“He jumped, led, and ran stupid sectionals up front (in the Arrowfield). He's absolutely flying.”

With multiple horses in the market to win the sprint, Hawkes is of the belief that up to six different competitors can win the Group 1.

Regarding the soon-to-be retired colt’s biggest threat in the 1200m race, the co-trainer is confident that Grafterburners ($7) will run a great race.

“I did have a good look at this field on Saturday, and I've got to be honest, I think it's very, very even,” Hawkes admitted.

“It's one of those races where you can throw a dart and there's going to be four, five, six chances, and he's one of them.

“Honestly, I thought Grafterburners is probably (the biggest danger) from the soft draw.

“I know Jimmysstar’s the quality horse in the race, there's no doubt about that, but I just thought it was a very even race, especially with a lot of those horses drawing wide out.

“Hopefully Devil Night can just jump, be on speed there and he'll give his 110%.

“I'm not sure what the weather's planning, he hasn't raced on a wet track before, I've worked him on it, he's been fine in it, but until you race, you don't know.”

In fact, if the colt runs well in the Group 1 on Saturday, then he will continue his Queensland campaign, avoiding retirement for the time being.

“It depends on how he does to whether we push on through the carnival, but I think he's a sneaky little chance (to win the Doomben 10,000), to be honest,” Hawkes stated.

“We're just trying to get that Group 1 on the way out to stud.”

If Devil Night fails to perform well in the Doomben 10,000 then he will likely retire with one victory next to his name – the prestigious Group 1 Blue Diamond.