Another Bastardization

A K J 6 3 2
9 6
10 2
J 4 3
Q 8 7 5 4 10 9
A Q 10 8 4 K J 7 5 3
7 5 9 8 4
10 A 6 2
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2
A K Q J 6 3 Opening Lead: 10 of clubs
K Q 9 8 7 5 Vul: E-W

North EastSouthWest
Pass Pass 1 1
1 2 5 All pass
This is another bastardization of the simple value of asking one's partner for preference and the partner giving it: not even giving your partner a chance! Five diamonds? As you can imagine without my going through the play, this was beat, while five clubs would have been cold. Oh, but that was the luck of the draw. Couldn't there have been a singleton diamond allowing for a ruff there when declarer knocks out the ace of clubs? When there might have been a 2-2 club break?
Indeed, there could have been. However, there are two responses to that objection, so this isn't a matter of hindsight. First, it's unlikelier that there'll be a 4-1 split in diamonds (about 28%) than that there'll be a 3-1 in clubs (about 50%). That's just common sense. With five cards, they've got to have more trouble crowding 4 in one hand than they'll have crowding 3 in one hand with 4 cards. So right there, this declarer was going against the odds and got his rightful comeuppance.
But there's a far larger point here, which is simply that you don't necessarily want to name the more powerful suit trump! A man named William Coffin said some years ago that when two suits are at issue (presumably both majors or both minors, both of about the same number of cards), the weaker should be named trump. That's what he said, and I could relate to that. It took me several years, I confess, before I came across a hand that illustrated that principle, but it made sense to me.
It's not so bad to have a powerful side suit, provided you have enough trump to control the hand and cash out that side suit. Indeed, a powerful side suit is usually a fine thing to have. Beyond that, beyond the odds, there is the simple fact that if you have a fit in clubs, you don't escape amy losers by naming that powerful diamond suit trump. So you had better bid the 6-card club suit to find the place where you have the greater number of cards. Lastly, the disparity could have been far greater. And then sticking to diamonds just wouldn't make any sense.
North could have 3 clubs, maybe four and a singleton diamond and, well, to take a worst-case scenario, a 5-1 split against him. So on a heart lead and a continuation, he's got powerfully high diamonds, but no more in number than one of his opponents holds and the ace of clubs still has to be knocked out!
There just isn't any reason to suppress a bid of that club holding. None, none, none.