\n\t\t\t\t\tBy Daniel Harrold and Tayla Dyke\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Listen<\/p>\n
Pakenham-based trainer Phillip Stokes is set for a busy day at Caulfield on Saturday as he saddles up live chances in both the Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) and the card\u2019s feature, the Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m).<\/p>\n
Stokes is currently operating at a strike-rate of 20.8 per cent this season, having sent out 72 runners as of the end of play on Friday for 15 winners and a further 15 placings.<\/p>\n
His main runners on Saturday\u2019s Caulfield Cup card are the OTI Racing-owned Deakin (Australia) in the cup itself, and Guineas hopeful Ferivia (Astern) \u2013 who runs for the Brook family\u2019s Saddlers Knife syndicate.<\/p>\n
Ferivia was priced at $15 for the Guineas on Friday which saw her sit on the fifth line of betting behind raging $2.10 favourite Apocalyptic (Extreme Choice), despite the Stokes-trained filly having landed the Thousand Guineas Prelude (Gr 2, 1400m) at Sandown-Hillside on her latest start.<\/p>\n
Sent off at $11 that day, the daughter of Astern (Medaglia D\u2019Oro) looked beaten in the straight in truth, but dug deep to tenaciously fend off all challengers and record a narrow 0.1 lengths success over Ole Dancer (Ole Kirk) \u2013 who re-opposes on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Despite the race\u2019s name, the Thousand Guineas Prelude \u2013 which was first run in 1965 \u2013 has seen only four fillies go on to claim glory in the main event itself the following month; Irish Lights (Fastnet Rock), Miss Finland (Redoute\u2019s Choice), Azzurro (Bluebird) and Bianco Flyer (Godswalk).<\/p>\n
However, as poor a record that may be, it has not stopped the Prelude winners running very well in the Guineas itself, with many going on to place (and at big odds) in the $1.5 million Classic.<\/p>\n
Ferivia is already a dual winner at Group level, having also landed the Quezette Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) back on August 16, and Stokes feels that his runner is a fair each-way hope in the Group 1 contest.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s been in work a long time, but holding her condition well, still working well, we think she\u2019ll run a strong mile,\u201d Stokes told ANZ News.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe top weight [Apocalyptic] looks very hard to beat, but we are drawn [barrier three] to get a good run, and I think she\u2019s a good each-way chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe won well at Caulfield [in the Guineas Prelude]. The horse from Sydney [Apocalyptic] still has to come down and go this way, I suppose, so we\u2019ve got a few things in our favour. But she\u2019s very tough and I think she can get the mile.\u201d<\/p>\n
Out to the mile for the first time under regular rider Lachlan Neindorf, Ferivia could be a landmark winner for the Brook\u2019s family \u2013 who also bred the filly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be huge to get a Group 1 win for them,\u201d Stokes added. \u201cThey\u2019re big supporters of our stable and David [Brook] breeds all his own, he does all the pedigree stuff and here we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just two races later and Stokes will be having a crack at another Group 1 contest, this time in the feature Caulfield Cup with OTI\u2019s Irish import, Deakin.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The gelded six-year-old was twice a winner in his native Ireland when trained by Joseph O\u2019Brien and has taken to Australian racing well, scoring three times from eight starts \u2013 including stakes victories in the Torney Night Cup (Listed, 2500m) and Roy Higgins Quality (Listed, 2600m).<\/p>\n
The latter of those wins secured Deakin a spot in next month\u2019s Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) and that race is the main target for the gelding\u2019s season, but not before a shot at Half Yours (St Jean) and co in this weekend\u2019s time-honoured handicap under his regular partner Daniel Stackhouse \u2013 where he is available at odds of $17.<\/p>\n
Deakin has made three starts so far this campaign and has improved with each of those, running a first-up 12th over 1400 metres in a Benchmark 100, before a seventh over 1700 metres at Flemington and a last-start sixth in the Turnbull Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) \u2013 where he was beaten less than three lengths by the winner and late Caulfield and Melbourne Cup absentee Sir Delius (Frankel) and just 0.1 lengths behind fourth placegetter Half Yours.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think [the Turnbull] is the right form line going into this race. He is still yet to be proven at the elite-level, but he has prepped up beautifully for it,\u201d Stokes said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe obviously didn\u2019t have to rush things because we\u2019ve already got his ticket into the Melbourne Cup. He\u2019s drawn [barrier seven] to get a beautiful run and I really feel he\u2019s a top-four chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the 2400 [metres] is perfect. We have yet to see if he can run two miles, but he\u2019s relaxing better. We\u2019ve just had a little gear change of a kineton noseband and he\u2019s just dropping his head that bit better and coming back, so that\u2019s pleasing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re really happy with him. We are hoping to settle three back one off and that\u2019ll be perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s feature races are not the only contests at Caulfield in which Stokes will field runners, with fellow Brook\u2019s family-owned Matahga (Tivaci) going in the card-opening Lamaro\u2019s Hotel Plate (1400m) and Stretan Angel (Harry Angel) lining up in the Alinghi Stakes (Listed, 1100m) four races later.<\/p>\n
The former will be making his first start as a three-year-old, having last been seen winning the Oaklands Plate (Listed, 1400m) at Morphettville on June 28, a victory that took his overall record to two wins and a second from just three outings.<\/p>\n
A colt by Tivaci (High Chaparral), Matahga was purchased by Stokes for NZ$80,000 during Book 1 of the 2024 Karaka Yearling Sale out of Waikato Stud and has had two recent jumpouts in the lead-up to this weekend\u2019s $150,000 plate.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s fit enough. He just found those jump outs a bit sharp for him. I think he\u2019s going to be a nice mile, probably a 2000-metre horse, so we are probably setting him for the Sandown Guineas,\u201d Stokes said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just hope he can be running on and potentially running a place. Lachie [Lachlan Neindorf] knows him well. He\u2019s a nice middle-distance, three-year-old horse and potentially could be on an SA Derby path in the autumn.\u201d<\/p>\n
While holding high hopes for Matahga, Stokes is hoping that his five-year-old mare Stretan Angel can bounce back from a disappointing last-start 11th in the Gilgai Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) as she drops back in grade for Saturday\u2019s Alinghi.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is definitely better than that [in the Gilgai],\u201d Stokes said. \u201cShe drew the inside, so elected to drag her back to get to the outside of then and see if she could let down, and she let down, but the bird had already flown.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the start before she ran really well [when second in The Taggart]. So I\u2019m sure she can bounce back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHer work was good, we have taken the blinkers off again. She\u2019s just got to have the race shape with good speed and she can figure in the finish. Her best is definitely good enough, but we just only have been seeing it periodically.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pressure will be on, so that will be good for her. She\u2019ll be second half or even a bit further back and getting to the outside and hopefully show that good turn and foot she\u2019s got.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Daniel Harrold and Tayla Dyke Listen Pakenham-based trainer Phillip Stokes is set for a busy day at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":206992,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[3004,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-206991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-racing","tag-racing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}