Stokes, who operates as a dual-state trainer with stables at Pakenham and Morphettville, heeded the advice of those closest to him to target the 1600 metres with Mr Quickie, who won the G1 Queensland Derby over 2400 metres as a younger horse.
“It’s fantastic and full credit to Wylie Dalziel and all the owners, and Peter Moody and I bounced a lot of ideas off each other and we thought this was the way to go,” Stokes said.
Syndicator Dalziel, who has worked closely with Moody for a number of years, purchased Mr Quickie out of breeder Rosemont Stud’s draft at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale for $115,000.
While the Derby success may have indicated he was a middle distance horse, Stokes is now understandably of the opinion that Mr Quickie is a mile specialist and aided by a gem of a ride from Jamie Kah landed the Toorak.
“Jamie Kah, what a jockey, gave him a peach of a ride. He hasn’t jumped that cleanly for a while and it was really nice to watch and it was a big thrill for the team at Pakenham,” Stokes said.
“Horses run for Jamie and after he jumped so well I was confident a long way out.”
“Horses run for Jamie and after he jumped so well I was confident a long way out.” – Phillip Stokes
Mr Quickie settled behind the leading division near the fence and when the field fanned out into the straight he went through his gears to hit the front 100 metres from home and dashed clear to win by 2l.
Buffalo River (USA) (Noble Mission {GB}) ensured it was a truly-run contest by setting up a solid clip in front and he stayed on well for second with Superstorm (Sebring) making ground well along the rail for third and Age Of Chivalry (NZ) (Mr Remarkable {NZ}) was next to cross the line.
“We’ll keep him fresh now and go to the G1 Cantala S. on the last day of the carnival and it’s great to see him back,” Stokes said. “He’s in form and we just have to keep him happy.”
Phillip Stokes
Kah is now hoping the Toorak can be a forerunner to further success through the carnival.
“It’s amazing and I’m happy to ride a Group 1 for an Adelaide supporter of mine. He’s just been doing a few things wrong this boy by not jumping away and giving them too much of a head start,” Kah said.
“He’s just been doing a few things wrong this boy by not jumping away and giving them too much of a head start.” - Jamie Kah
“He’s just such a talented horse on his day and they’ve found the trick to him by keeping him fresh.
“I’m just so happy with how things are going at the moment and the support I have been getting. I’m really excited to be riding in the G1 Melbourne Cup this year, that was my goal to ride in at least one of the features so things are looking pretty good.”
Kah has recently been booked for the ride on the Charlie Fellowes-trained Prince Of Arran (GB) (Shirocco {Ger}) in the Cup. It will be his third tilt at the race, having finished third in 2018 and runner-up last year.
