Following his brave win in the Listed Roy Higgins Quality at Flemington, our promising stayer Deakin will bypass the G1 Sydney Cup and head to the paddock for a well-earned break.
The decision has been made in consultation with OTI Racing&rsquo;s Terry Henderson, with a view to the bigger picture: a focused spring campaign targeting the premier staying features - the G1 Caulfield Cup and the G1 Melbourne Cup.
Our son of Australia has come into his own during his first preparation Down Under, and we looking forward to Deakin proving himself as a genuine Cups contender in the spring.

Phillip Stokes Racing

Deakin to Bypass Sydney Cup, Set for Spring Staying Features

Phillip Stokes

Deakin on Display at HQ We are more than excited to saddle up our impressive last start Listed&nbsp;Torney Night Cup&nbsp;winner&nbsp;Deakin&nbsp;at&nbsp;Flemington&nbsp;on Saturday after opting to bypass the&nbsp;G2 Adelaide Cup.
The&nbsp;Roy Higgins,&nbsp;a&nbsp;&ldquo;win and you&rsquo;re in&rdquo;&nbsp;race for the&nbsp;Melbourne Cup,&nbsp;presents as an exciting opportunity for Deakin, whose untapped staying potential puts a spring in the team&rsquo;s step each-and-every morning.
Deakin was impressive in his tick over jump out on&nbsp;March 18th&nbsp;and pleased both&nbsp;Daniel Stackhouse&nbsp;and&nbsp;Phillip&nbsp;in his work on Tuesday morning. Given the soft draw, barrier&nbsp;three, we expect our&nbsp;OTI-owned import to prove ultra-competitive. 
Skies the limit for Sweethearted
If the silks in which&nbsp;Sweethearted&nbsp;carries are any indication of his straight track ability he&rsquo;s sure to be in with a red-hot chance when he heads to&nbsp;HQ&nbsp;on Saturday for the $500,000 Listed&nbsp;World Pool Sprint Classic.
Sweethearted, an impressive last-start winner at&nbsp;Geelong&nbsp;on January 4, lines up against a field of quality young sprinters in the&nbsp;1100m&nbsp;dash &ndash; with none more exciting than&nbsp;Kiwi&nbsp;sprint sensation&nbsp;Alabama Lass,&nbsp;who is being heralded by some as the &ldquo;next Imperatriz&rdquo;.
Despite the boom on Alabama Lass and the quality of our competition we couldn&rsquo;t be happier with Sweethearted heading into Saturday&rsquo;s race.
He has done everything right at home and gives Phillip and the team on the ground every indication that he could furnish into a high-quality sprinter.
Our other runners at Flemington include the ever-consistent&nbsp;Athanatos&nbsp;in the&nbsp;VOBIS Gold Mile,&nbsp;Zaszou&nbsp;in the opening event on the program and&nbsp;Prinzerro&nbsp;and&nbsp;Shirshov&nbsp;in the lucky last over the 1100m. 
Comanche in search of maiden success
Comanche Miss&nbsp;may well and truly be the &ldquo;best maiden&rdquo; galloper in the land, but on&nbsp;Saturday&nbsp;we&rsquo;re hoping she can break that tag when she steps out in the&nbsp;Listed&nbsp;Clare Lindop Stakes&nbsp;at&nbsp;Morphettville.
Owned by&nbsp;Arrowfield Stud, who we&rsquo;ve had great success training for over the years, Comanche Miss looks well-placed to get &ldquo;the monkey off her back&rdquo; rising to the mile, a trip she boasts a close third to boom filly&nbsp;Treasurethemoment&nbsp;over.
Comanche Miss is drawn to get an economical run in transit, barrier eight, and we expect her to improve off her first up performance at&nbsp;Pakenham&nbsp;ridden with cover over a more suitable distance as she plots a path towards next month&rsquo;s&nbsp;Australasian Oaks.
Listen to Racing Manager&rsquo;s&nbsp;Nick Pinkerton&nbsp;and&nbsp;Jackson Frantz&nbsp;preview of our strong hand at&nbsp;Flemington&nbsp;on Saturday and the chances of&nbsp;Comanche Miss&nbsp;in the Listed&nbsp;Clare Lindop Stakes.
The team also provide an update on our star mares&nbsp;Stretan Angel&nbsp;and&nbsp;Climbing Star 👇 https://youtu.be/3ipZqsEfDfw?si=4-js5sDFEfrfc6Xy

Deakin on Display at HQ

The Phillip Stokes team is confident they made the right call in bypassing the Group 2 Adelaide Cup (3200m) with progressive stayer Deakin, who will instead chase a golden ticket into the&nbsp;<a title="Melbourne Cup guide" href="https://horsebetting.com.au/melbourne-cup/">Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m)</a>&nbsp;in Saturday&rsquo;s Listed Roy Higgins Quality (2600m) at Flemington.
Deakin had been among the early favourites with&nbsp;<a title="Betting sites guide" href="https://horsebetting.com.au/sites/">horse racing betting sites</a>&nbsp;for the Adelaide Cup, but the decision was made to stay in Victoria and target a more suitable option closer to home.
&ldquo;The price we would have paid to go there at the time, running on a 40-degree day and carrying 59-kilos in a two-mile race for the first time, the risk was greater than the reward,&rdquo; Assistant Trainer Shae Dinunzio said.
&ldquo;We thought it best to keep him here and jump him out in between and follow the same recipe we did last time.&rdquo;
That recipe delivered success in February, with Deakin scoring in the Listed Torney Night Cup (2500m) at&nbsp;<a href="https://horsebetting.com.au/tracks/moonee-valley/">Moonee Valley</a>.
He steps out to 2600 metres this weekend with the added incentive of a ballot exemption into the Melbourne Cup on the line, where he is currently a $26 hope in Melbourne Cup futures markets with&nbsp;<a title="Bookies guide" href="https://horsebetting.com.au/online-bookmakers/">horse racing bookmakers</a>.
&ldquo;He worked super on the grass at Pakenham on Saturday morning,&rdquo; Dinunzio said.
&ldquo;Joe Bowditch rode him and couldn&rsquo;t have been happier. If he wins the Roy Higgins there&rsquo;s a chance he goes to the Sydney Cup next month but if we think he&rsquo;s not ready we&rsquo;ll pull the pin, send him to the paddock, and get him ready for the Melbourne Cup.&rdquo;
&ldquo;His jump-out on Tuesday was the same as how he jumped out before he won the Torney Cup. We&rsquo;re rapt and couldn&rsquo;t be happier.&rdquo; <a href="https://horsebetting.com.au/deakin-primed-for-roy-higgins-tilt/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Written by Horsebetting.com.au&nbsp;</a>

Deakin primed for Roy Higgins tilt

Phillip Stokes has won two Adelaide Cups, and he's perfectly poised for a third next month with imposing two-pronged attack&nbsp;<a title="www.racenet.com.au" href="https://www.racenet.com.au/profiles/horse/deakin-fr">Deakin</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a title="www.racenet.com.au" href="https://www.racenet.com.au/profiles/horse/taramansour-ire">Taramansour</a>.
The expat South Australian, now based at Pakenham, won the 2021 and '22 Adelaide Cups with Good Idea and Daqiansweet Junior, but he's never had a better chance than this year with exciting stayer Deakin.
Stayers are typically labelled as dour or gritty rather than exciting, but Deakin's five-length romp in the Group 2 Torney Cup (2500m) at&nbsp;<a title="www.racenet.com.au" href="https://www.racenet.com.au/tracks/vic/moonee-valley">The Valley</a>&nbsp;was enough to rouse anyone that saw it.
Deakin, previously trained by Joseph O'Brien in Ireland, has won two of four starts under&nbsp;<a title="www.racenet.com.au" href="https://www.racenet.com.au/profiles/trainer/phillip-stokes">Stokes</a>&nbsp;since arriving in Australia, and is raced by OTI racing.
"He's a very progressive horse, he's done this all in one prep, coming over from Europe &ndash; they don't often do that," Stokes said.
"There's a lot of upside. Does he run two-mile? I don't know. That's why he's going to the Adelaide Cup.
"We're going to give it a go, and if he can run the two-mile &ndash; he'll be very competitive." 
The five-year-old gelding has never ventured beyond 2514m, but has won both career starts around that marker.
"He's very clean-winded, as European horses are, which is a big positive," he said.
"(Daniel)&nbsp;<a title="www.racenet.com.au" href="https://www.racenet.com.au/profiles/jockey/daniel-stackhouse">Stackhouse</a>&nbsp;is pretty bullish he can run it &ndash; let's hope."
Daqiansweet Junior competed in two Melbourne Cups for Stokes, finishing sixth (2022) and fifth (2023), and Stokes is harbouring&nbsp;<a title="www.racenet.com.au" href="https://www.racenet.com.au/melbourne-cup">Melbourne Cup</a>&nbsp;ambitions with Deakin if can prove formidable at the two-mile.
"I feel he (Deakin) is in front of where Daqiansweet Junior was at the same stage," he said.
"He's a very progressive horse, and very exciting.
"We'll just weigh it up (Melbourne Cup).
"If we went to a&nbsp;<a title="www.racenet.com.au" href="https://www.racenet.com.au/group-one-races/sydney-cup">Sydney Cup</a>&nbsp;we'll just tip him straight out and go for the traditional route to a Melbourne Cup."
Deakin's partner in crime for the Adelaide Cup will be stablemate Taramansour, who was a fast-finishing third in last Saturday's Group 3 Lord Reims Stakes (2600m) at&nbsp;<a title="www.racenet.com.au" href="https://www.racenet.com.au/tracks/sa/morphettville">Morphettville</a>, a traditional lead-up to the Adelaide Cup.
"The barrier cost him on Saturday, if he drew a barrier, gets a few pairs closer &ndash; he wins it," Stokes said.
"It'll be the same sort of horses plus what comes from over the border, I think he'll be fine, he's in Adelaide now and has settled in well.
"Lachy Neindorf will ride him, he knows a bit more about the horse now, hopefully he draws a barrier and he'll be thereabouts too, don't worry."
Daniel Stackhouse will retain the ride on Deakin for the Group 2 Adelaide Cup (3200m) on March 10. By Racenet's Tyler Maund&nbsp;

Stokes in strong position for third Adelaide Cup

Deakin&rsquo;s 5.5 length win in the Listed Torney Night Cup at The Valley last Friday night confirmed him as one of the favourites for the 3200m Group 2 Adelaide Cup on March 10.
Bred in France by OTI &amp; partners, the gelding, by Australia, was initially placed with Joseph O&rsquo;Brien in Ireland. With Joseph, the horse won two of his eight races and looked a most progressive type.
Since arriving in Australia as a 5yo, Deakin has settled into Phillip Stokes&rsquo; stable extremely well. A tall, impressive looking chestnut, there was concern on Friday night about the firmness of the track. However Deakin seemed to handle it very well and came out of the race soundly.
In recent years, Philip has had an excellent run with horses going into the Adelaide Cup. He won the race in 2021 and 2022 with Good Idea and Daquinsweet Junior respectively. He was then 3rd with Amade in 2023 and most unlucky with the same horse in 2024 when 4th despite the saddle slipping early in the race. This year, Phillip is following the same pattern as he did with the Daqiansweet Junior, giving confidence that the horse will be ready to peak on the day.
Deakin is a true International horse. Having been bred in France, raced in Ireland and the UK, he has owners in the UK as well as from around Australia. Still very lightly raced, he is a most promising stayer, not only going into the Adelaide Cup but also into the spring later in the year.

Deakin continues path towards Adelaide Cup

Next month's Adelaide Cup remains the aim for emerging stayer Deakin, who tuned up for his next race-day assignment with a jumpout at Pakenham last week.
Trainer Phillip Stokes said the son of Australia needed the piece of work to maintain fitness between his second placing in a Benchmark 100 handicap at Flemington last month and next week's Torney Night Cup (2500m) at The Valley.
Stokes, who won the Adelaide Cup in 2021 with Good Idea and 2022 with Daqiansweet Junior, said Deakin profiles similarly to the latter, who also ran in the race via the Torney Night Cup.
"He's going really well," Stokes said.
"It's been four weeks between runs, so we just thought we'd give him a tick-over jumpout.
"He's going to go to the Torney Cup on Friday week at The Valley and then he'll go to the Adelaide Cup, all things being well.
"He probably fits the mould of Daqiansweet Junior, who went from the Torney Cup into the Adelaide Cup.
"What excites me most about this horse is that he's still a preparation away, he's still got some maturing to do, so for his first preparation here in Australia, he's done better than (I was) expecting." Formerly trained in Ireland by Joseph O'Brien, Deakin won over 2000m at his second start for Stokes in December.
The five-year-old is a winner over 2500m and could be one of several Stokes-trained runners in the Adelaide Cup, with last-start Listed placegetter Taramansour also in the mix.
The above article was written by Racing.com's James Tzaferis and can be <a href="https://www.racing.com/news/2025-02-17/news-preview-deakin-in-zone-for-cups" target="_blank" rel="noopener">read here</a>

Deakin in zone for Cups

Stokes Racing are delighted with this mornings announcement by Racing Victoria, the Pakenham Racing Club and Sportsbet on the launch of Australia&rsquo;s richest maiden series,&nbsp;Sportsbet Future Stars.
As a strong supporter of racing at our 'home track' , the Sportsbet-Pakenham&nbsp;Sportsbet Future Stars&nbsp;delivers a significant win for&nbsp; all in the industry with a lucrative $1.2 million&nbsp;maiden series Our connections will get the chance to chase in 12 maiden heats valued at $75,000 and qualify for the&nbsp; $300,000 final. Stokes Racing are proud of the record our team has at Pakenham: 
<ul>
<li>Pakenham:
<ul>
<li>94 Runners - 19 Winners - 20% Winning S/R</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
 
<ul>
<li>Pakenham Synthetic:
<ul>
<li>114 Runners - 24 Winners - 21% Winning S/R</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
 
* Career Statistics for Stokes Racing&nbsp; - Racing.com as at 28th Nov 2022 Future Stars&nbsp;will launch on 12 January &ndash; the opening Thursday night fixture of the 2022-23 season &ndash; and continue at each Pakenham Thursday night meeting through to the lucrative final on Thursday night, 2 March.
 An overview of&nbsp;Sportsbet Future Stars&nbsp;follows:
<ul>
<li>The series will be open to three, four and five-year-old horses only;</li>
<li>12 maiden heats of $75,000 each over distances of 1200m or 1400m;</li>
<li>A $300,000 final run over 1400m as a Class 3 set weights contest;</li>
<li>The heats and final will feature fields of 12 with the winner of each heat automatically qualifying for the final;</li>
<li>If qualified horses do not accept for the final then their spots are offered to the highest rated second placegetters among the heats;</li>
<li>The final heat will be a 1400m repechage open only to those maidens who contested an earlier heat with priority given to the highest placegetters;</li>
<li>The heats will cater for a broad spectrum of maidens, with two to exclude first starters; and</li>
<li>One heat will be open only to maidens prepared by&nbsp;Victorian trainers who registered fewer than 15 Victorian metropolitan wins in the 2021-22 racing season</li>
</ul>
 
&ldquo;Pakenham Racing Club is excited to be partnering with Sportsbet, Racing Victoria and&nbsp;<a href="https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/B8_zCYW86RIDkl5ls0kJzY?domain=racing.com">Racing.com</a>, to bring this series to life on a Thursday night at Sportsbet-Pakenham. What a brilliant recipe for success!&rdquo; Blair Odgers , PRC Chief Executive Officer&nbsp;
 <a href="https://www.racingvictoria.com.au/news/2022-11-28/australias-richest-maiden-series--set-to-unveil-future-stars" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CLICK HERE TO READ FULL DETAIL ON THE FUTURE SERIES</a>

$1.2M Sportsbet Future Stars set Pakenham Racing Club

Irish-bred import Amade returned to the Pakenham stables of Stokes Racing this week in stunning order. The 8yo has been in pre training with Matthew Williams at Warrnambool for 6 weeks and has pleased his team. With an international career taking him to race in the US, UK ,France and Australia, Amade has a cult following among his OTI connections , staff and racing fans.
Amade has been challenged in his journey with tendon and pelvis issues and returned to racing in 2021 after 22 months off to race successfully in Australia ,winning the William Newton VC Handicap, second up over 2600m at Flemington. He was placed on a Melbourne Cup campaign however it wasn't to be with Amade returning to 3 runs in the Spring and finishing a strong 4th to Tralee Rose in the G3 Geelong Cup before again heading to the paddock. Phillip Stokes on Amade and OTI&nbsp; "He's a beautiful galloper that's shown he can match it with the absolute top level. We're all just hoping he gets his deserved chance into the Autumn. Terry Henderson and connections at OTI have been great supporters of the stable and after running 6th with Daqiansweet Junior this year we feel we have the model right."&nbsp;

Amade returns to Autumn tilt

Mileva may be tasked with providing Phillip Stokes consecutive wins in this month's Group 3 Bletchingly Stakes (1200m) after her last-stride victory in the $200,000 G3 Neds Sir John Monash Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
Daniel Stackhouse drove Bless Her ($17) along the inside rail from her rearward settling position as they looked set for victory, only for Daniel Moor and Mileva ($4.40) to triumph in the final strides by a short head.
Stokes won last year's Bletchingly with Samson but Mileva, a four-time winner over 1100 metres, has been placed at one of four starts over 1200m.
"1200 metres is the question mark, we're proven up to 1100 metres, but she is a bit stronger now and I'll have a chat to Daniel (Moor)," Stokes said.
"She didn't get tugging too bad (mid-race) so we might have to have a throw at the stumps (in the Bletchingly)."
Mileva's victory in the Monash was her fourth in Stakes company but critically her first at Group level, after claiming the Listed Manihi Stakes (1100m) at Morphettville in March 2021, Listed Alinghi Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield last October and Listed Kensington Stakes (1000m) last December.
"It's very satisfying, the team have done a great job with her. She spelled well, she presented beautifully today and Daniel Moor gave her a lovely ride," Stokes said.
The disappointments in the race were Oxley Road ($2.80 favourite) and Ashford Street ($4.60), who loomed to fight out the finish at the 300-metre mark only to finish seventh and last respectively in the nine-horse field.
"We rolled the dice thinking we'd have a go on the track, at home he's not great on it, but you won't see him again on a rain-affected deck," jockey Luke Nolen said of Oxley Road, who finished two lengths behind Mileva.
Teo Nugent had guided Ashford Street to two-consecutive 1000-metre victories, with all his seven wins having come on rain-affected tracks, but the four-year-old Moshe gelding battled in the Soft 7 conditions.
"The vets will have a check," Nugent said. "He jumped and landed one out, one back and I was pretty happy with our position early but when I pushed the button at the top of the straight, he failed to respond."

Stokes' Mileva salutes in Monash

Phillip Stokes' mare Mileva will be out to build on her strong first-up record when she contests the Group 3 Sir John Monash Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday.
The daughter of Headwater has never finished out of the top two four outings when resuming.
"Mileva's come back in good order," Stokes said.
"She's quite forward for this race, she's had two jumpouts here and we just thought we'd get her up and about for the early part of the spring and then see where she ends up."
Daniel Moor is booked to ride Mileva, who hasn't raced since March and Stokes has noticed some physical changes to the four-year-old in that time.
"She has matured a bit; she's strengthened up a little bit," he said.
"All things being equal, she's got to step up again but I'm expecting a good run."
Mileva has only had five starts for the Pakenham-based trainer but has already registered two victories at Listed level in that time, so what is the key to getting the best out of her?
"Once you've got her fit, you've just got to keep her fresh and happy and she seems to like being trained like that," Stokes replied.
"Just keep her to the sprint trips and she always gives you a good sight."

News Detail

Deakin to Bypass Sydney Cup, Set for Spring Staying Features

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