Saturday is shaping up to be massive day for the stable in&nbsp;South Australia, with a total of&nbsp;13 runners&nbsp;at&nbsp;Morphettville, headlined by our sprinting stars&nbsp;Stretan Angel&nbsp;and&nbsp;Climbing Star&nbsp;in the&nbsp;G1 Robert Sangster Stakes.
While both horses have had very different campaigns this time in the team couldn&rsquo;t be happier with their condition leading into the&nbsp;1200m&nbsp;feature.
Stretan Angel, who was last seen finishing a brave fourth in the&nbsp;G1 William Reid Stakes, had a tick over trial last Tuesday and will be partnered by&nbsp;Tom Stockdale, with the pair both in pursuit of maiden Group 1 glory.
Lachie Neindorf&nbsp;will stick with&nbsp;Qatar Bloodstock&rsquo;s Climbing Star&nbsp;after our reigning Sangster winner resumed with an eye-catching placing behind&nbsp;Asfoora&nbsp;in the&nbsp;G3 Irwin Stakes.
Our staying fillies are all on track for the&nbsp;G1 Australasian Oaks&nbsp;after training on since their lead up runs in the&nbsp;G3 Auraria Stakes.
Arrowfield&rsquo;s Comanche Miss, a second-up winner of the&nbsp;Listed Clare Lindop Stakes, was forced to settle a long way back in the&nbsp;Auraria&nbsp;after drawing the carpark, and is set for an improved showing from a softer alley.
Pelevecchio&nbsp;couldn&rsquo;t have been more impressive in the&nbsp;Auraria&nbsp;working through the line with intent after flopping out of the gates.
If she can step quicker into stride, she&rsquo;s sure to figure prominently over the concluding stages.&nbsp;OTI Racing&rsquo;s Femminile&nbsp;is another we&nbsp;expect to improve again out in trip. The&nbsp;Stoked! Podcast&nbsp;is back, with our racing manager&rsquo;s&nbsp;Nick Pinkerton&nbsp;and&nbsp;Jackson Frantz&nbsp;taking an in-depth look at the&nbsp;Sangster&nbsp;and the&nbsp;Oaks&nbsp;before discussing the chances of our other key runners on the card.
<a href="https://stokesracing.acemlna.com/lt.php?x=3TZy~GDGInnMEpz_-N9NWOah~6AkvATxv-xhZHHDJaWfEHR5yEy.z.dw5X2gi.~ynug3Z.U4YInNU5390NtG" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://stokesracing.acemlna.com/lt.php?x%3D3TZy~GDGInnMEpz_-N9NWOah~6AkvATxv-xhZHHDJaWfEHR5yEy.z.dw5X2gi.~ynug3Z.U4YInNU5390NtG&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1745626555116000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1_N9_uoDkhDZPQbXYjcYLn">Click here to listen to the full podcast</a> 
Sweethearted, another exciting sprinter who dons the lime and navy&nbsp;Maclean&nbsp;silks, presents third-up over&nbsp;1200m&nbsp;in a high-quality edition of the&nbsp;G2 Tobin Bronze Stakes.
The son of&nbsp;Brave Smash, who had nothing go right at&nbsp;Bendigo&nbsp;last start, has the turn of foot and natural ability required to run over the top of his rivals given he is within striking distance on straightening.
The ever-consistent&nbsp;Athanatos&nbsp;rises in trip again after a brave placing in last fortnight&rsquo;s&nbsp;Listed Port Adelaide Guineas.
While he is yet to step out to the&nbsp;2000m&nbsp;we are confident Athanatos can put in another bold showing for&nbsp;ATB&nbsp;and their fellow connections when he contests the&nbsp;G3 Chairman&rsquo;s Stakes&nbsp;against a quality field of stayers, headed by&nbsp;Goldrush Guru.
We will saddle up debutant&nbsp;Obucci, an impressive&nbsp;Balaklava&nbsp;trial winner, and the&nbsp;Brook&nbsp;family-owned&nbsp;Damelli&nbsp;in the&nbsp;G3 Breeders&rsquo; Stakes&nbsp;for the juvenile fillies.
Damelli made late ground in the&nbsp;Dequettiville&nbsp;to finish sixth and will appreciate the extra furlong on offer while Obucci&rsquo;s natural speed can hopefully see her offset the sticky gate,&nbsp;barrier 10.
Stable stalwart&nbsp;Arran Bay&nbsp;and the talented&nbsp;Regal Azmon&nbsp;are both more than capable of kicking the day off in style when they contest the opening event on the program.
Regal Bloodstock, who we have had great success training for in recent years, have a red-hot chance in Regal Azmon, a galloper who has an affinity for the mile with four wins from seven attempts.
He gets in superbly at the weights,&nbsp;54kgs, and from the gun draw,&nbsp;barrier 6, should get every chance at success third up.&nbsp;Arran Bay, another distance specialist presents third-up but will be required to lump&nbsp;62.5kgs.
The Mansman&nbsp;and&nbsp;Bennett Racing&rsquo;s Beauty Rising&nbsp;round out the Morphettville card over 1200m while we take a small team to&nbsp;The Valley&nbsp;on Saturday, which features&nbsp;Prinzerro,&nbsp;Zebella&nbsp;and&nbsp;Fagin.

Phillip Stokes Racing

Stoked! Bound for Glory

Phillip Stokes

On Friday, as&nbsp;we&nbsp;pause to reflect and honour the service and sacrifice of our&nbsp;ANZACs,&nbsp;Flemington&nbsp;plays host to a fittingly competitive raceday.&nbsp;
Stay Cosmic, our progressive son of&nbsp;Cosmic Force, will be out to add black type to his resume when he steps out in the&nbsp;Listed ANZAC Day Stakes.
The&nbsp;Bennett Racing-owned rig looks well-placed rising to&nbsp;1400m&nbsp;after being narrowly denied at&nbsp;Sandown&nbsp;last start. He&rsquo;s drawn to get every chance from&nbsp;Barrier 3, and with&nbsp;Tom Stockdale&nbsp;aboard&nbsp;we&rsquo;re confident he can put his best foot forward.
Bennett Racing will also be represented by&nbsp;Cheval Chic&nbsp;in&nbsp;Race 7, an&nbsp;1100m Bm78.
The daughter of&nbsp;Written Tycoon&nbsp;has pleased since her last start performance and should prove competitive dropping back to a distance where she boasts three wins and a second from four attempts.
The enigmatic yet ultra talented&nbsp;I Am Velvet, Race 4, rises in grade and distance in search of back-to-back victories after a strong first up success at&nbsp;Sandown&nbsp;over&nbsp;1200m.
Our&nbsp;ATB-owned daughter of&nbsp;I Am Immortal&nbsp;is thriving this campaign and has come through that last run in top order. Drawn well in&nbsp;Barrier 6&nbsp;she finds herself in a very winnable&nbsp;F&amp;M Bm78. We&rsquo;re looking forward to unleashing another&nbsp;OTI Racing-owned import in&nbsp;Highland Bling&nbsp;&ndash; a lightly raced gelding who makes his first start for the stable over&nbsp;1800m&nbsp;in&nbsp;Race 3.
Highland Bling has impressed in his work at home and trialled up professionally since arriving in&nbsp;Australia. Still lightly raced with clear upside, he&rsquo;s an exciting staying prospect for the future. There are limited shares still available in Highland Bling, so if&nbsp;you&rsquo;re looking to get involved with a well-prepared European import this is your chance.
<a href="https://www.phillipstokesracing.com.au/horse-available/10851/highland-bling" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.phillipstokesracing.com.au/horse-available/10851/highland-bling&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1745625864483000&amp;usg=AOvVaw34Jp3Wknf4cpPk0ZtwrjC9">Click here for more info</a> On a day where&nbsp;we&nbsp;reflect on courage and sacrifice,&nbsp;we&nbsp;hope our runners can deliver a performance worthy of the occasion.
&nbsp;

Stoked! Lest we Forget

We&rsquo;re set for another big Saturday at&nbsp;Stokes Racing&nbsp;with feature runners across three states, headlined by the return of our&nbsp;Group 1-winning sprinter&nbsp;Climbing Star.
With the&nbsp;Adelaide&nbsp;carnival ramping up it's only fitting that some of our stars are on display at&nbsp;Morphettville&nbsp;this Saturday, and few in the stable rival that of Climbing Star, who will resume in the&nbsp;G3 Irwin Stakes&nbsp;off the back of a pleasing trial at&nbsp;Pakenham&nbsp;on&nbsp;March 25th. 
Despite Climbing Star drawing awkwardly, barrier 10 of 11, we are confident she will return in good order and set herself up for a crack at more top-tier glory in the&nbsp;G1 Sangster Stakes&nbsp;and the&nbsp;G1 Goodwood Handicap. 
Stretan Angel,&nbsp;who has been freshened at&nbsp;Phillip&rsquo;s&nbsp;farm since her brave fourth placing in the&nbsp;G1 William Reid Stakes, will jump out at&nbsp;Pakenham&nbsp;on&nbsp;Tuesday&nbsp;morning before taking her place alongside Climbing Star in the&nbsp;G1 Sangster Stakes&nbsp;on&nbsp;April 26th. 
Other key runners on Saturday at Morphettville, include&nbsp;Arrowfield&rsquo;s&nbsp;last start&nbsp;Listed Clare Lindop Stakes&nbsp;winner&nbsp;Comanche Miss&nbsp;in the&nbsp;G3 Auraria Stakes, her final lead up into next fortnight&rsquo;s&nbsp;G1 Australasian Oaks. We will also be represented by&nbsp;OTI Racing&nbsp;and&nbsp;Aralet's Femminile, along with&nbsp;Pelevecchio&nbsp;in the 3YO fillies feature. 
Athanatos, who broke through for a well-deserved victory at&nbsp;Flemington&nbsp;last start, is another of our key runners drawn wide. Despite the gate,&nbsp;barrier 11, Athanatos looks to be very well-placed stepping out to the&nbsp;1800m&nbsp;journey of the&nbsp;Listed Port Adelaide Guineas. 
Feature racing in&nbsp;Victoria&nbsp;heads to&nbsp;Bendigo&nbsp;on Saturday for&nbsp;Golden Mile Day&nbsp;and we will be represented by stable stalwart&nbsp;Arran Bay&nbsp;in the main event. 
While he boasts a superb second-up record, four wins from six starts, there is still plenty of improvement to come this campaign after he cruised around first-up in horrendous conditions at&nbsp;The Valley. 
A horse we are extremely excited to see step out at the &ldquo;Nursery of Champions&rdquo; is&nbsp;Sweethearted, who lines up in a competitive&nbsp;3YO Handicap, Race 5. 
Sweethearted attacked the line strongly first-up at Flemington to finish just 2.2L off&nbsp;Kiwi&nbsp;sprint sensation&nbsp;Alabama Lass. So, from the good draw, barrier five, we are confident he can prove hard to beat under multiple Group 1-winning hoop&nbsp;Joe Bowditch. We will also saddle up&nbsp;Prinzerro&nbsp;in&nbsp;Race 3&nbsp;and&nbsp;Street Of Dreams&nbsp;in the lucky last. 
Ever consistent&nbsp;Bennett Racing&nbsp;mare&nbsp;Zaszou&nbsp;will get her chance at Group glory in the&nbsp;G2 Sapphire Stakes&nbsp;at&nbsp;Randwick&nbsp;on Saturday after a super first-up showing at&nbsp;Flemington&nbsp;last month. 
While it&rsquo;s a field of class mares Zaszou hasn&rsquo;t missed a beat since her last start and the red-hot&nbsp;Craig Williams&nbsp;should give her every chance from the 1200m chute start. 
Our other Bennett Racing galloper in&nbsp;Stay Focused&nbsp;is now set for next month&rsquo;s&nbsp;G3 Fred Best Classic&nbsp;at&nbsp;Eagle Farm&nbsp;after blowing his rivals away in last Saturday&rsquo;s&nbsp;Listed Nitschke Stakes&nbsp;at&nbsp;Morphettville. 
Our bold front running son of&nbsp;Cosmic Force&nbsp;has been a force to be reckoned with in recent starts and with his confidence high we are looking forward to seeing what he can produce during the&nbsp;Queensland&nbsp;winter carnival. 
Stay Focused's full-brother&nbsp;Stay Cosmic&nbsp;will head to&nbsp;Flemington&nbsp;for the 1400m&nbsp;Listed ANZAC Day Stakes&nbsp;after a narrow defeat at Sandown on Wednesday.Our talented but enigmatic filly&nbsp;I Am Velvet&nbsp;got it right on raceday at&nbsp;Sandown&nbsp;on&nbsp;Wednesday, running away with a well-deserved first-up victory under&nbsp;Craig Williams. 
I Am Velvet is owned by great supporters of the stable in&nbsp;Darren&nbsp;and&nbsp;Liz Dance&nbsp;of&nbsp;Australian Thoroughbred Bloodstock, and we are now hopeful she can progress through the grades and realise her true potential.&nbsp; Racing Manager's&nbsp;Nick Pinkerton&nbsp;and&nbsp;Jackson Frantz&nbsp;are back with their in-depth preview of the stables key chances on Saturday.&nbsp; 
<a href="https://stokesracing.acemlna.com/lt.php?x=3TZy~GDGInnMEpz_-N9NWOah~6AkvATxv-xhZHHDJaWfEHR5yEy.yuZ05XUnmNM~jMoz08QGWqUN75RAya">Click here to listen to the full podcast</a>
 Phillip,&nbsp;Tommy,&nbsp;Nick&nbsp;and our bloodstock agent&nbsp;Suman Hedge&nbsp;put in the work on the ground at the&nbsp;Inglis Easter Sale&nbsp;and managed to walk away with three quality yearlings for the stable. 
Our haul included&nbsp;Lot 185, a half-brother to&nbsp;Stretan Angel,&nbsp;Lot 207&nbsp;a&nbsp;North Pacific&nbsp;half-sister to&nbsp;G1 Queensland Oaks&nbsp;winner&nbsp;Socks Nation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Lot 212, a well-related&nbsp;Maurice&nbsp;x&nbsp;Teaspoon&nbsp;colt from the draft of&nbsp;Arrowfield Stud,&nbsp;who have opted to stay in for half. 
<a href="https://stokesracing.acemlna.com/lt.php?x=3TZy~GDGInnMEpz_-N9NWOah~6AkvATxv-xhZHHDJaWfEHR5yEy.yuZ05XUnmNM~jMk408QGWqUN75RAya">Click here for more info</a> 
With demand for shares high these opportunities won&rsquo;t last long... Contact a team member now or reply to this email to secure your share today!

Stoked! A Triple Threat

Last Saturday was one to savour for the stable, headlined by an outstanding performance from our OTI&nbsp;Racing-owned import Deakin, who outstayed his rivals in the Listed Roy Higgins Quality. This tough victory has set him on a promising path toward a spring campaign, with both the G1 Caulfield Cup and G1 Melbourne Cup firmly in his sights.
Athanatos also delivered a well-deserved win for our great supporters Darren and Liz Dance in the VOBIS Gold Reef, while Arrowfield filly Comanche Miss&nbsp;stamped herself as a serious Australasian Oaks&nbsp;contender with a strong victory in the Clare Lindop Stakes at Morphettville. 
Zunna Zips Away&nbsp;
Zunna burst onto the scene in style at Pakenham on Thursday night, claiming a dominant debut victory. The 3YO daughter of Zoustar dashed away from her rivals to win by two lengths, giving us another exciting young galloper to follow. Zunna has been retained to race by her breeders Kia Ora Stud, a prestigious partner we're proud to work alongside. 
The Saturday Set
Looking ahead, we&rsquo;re excited to see Stay&nbsp;Focused line&nbsp;up in the Listed Nitschke Stakes at Morphettville after an overdue victory at The Valley last&nbsp;fortnight. Stay Focused maps superbly from barrier two and should prove hard to run down on the Parks track. His full brother Stay Cosmic also looks to have a bright future after an impressive debut success at Cranbourne last Friday night.
At Caulfield, Prancing Spirit will fly the flag in Race 2, while Regal Azmon and Street Of Dreams represent the&nbsp;team in the final event of the day over 1400m. 
The Star Steps Out&nbsp;
While it&rsquo;s a slightly quieter Saturday ahead, we&rsquo;re already looking forward to the return of more feature action next week - led by none other than our reigning G1 Sangster Stakes champion Climbing Star, who is set to kick off her campaign in the G3 Irwin Stakes at Morphettville.
With our team currently on the ground at Riverside Stables for the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale, our weekend preview podcast will take a short break and return next Friday. Stay tuned! 
Your Chance to Join the Action!
Our track record with OTI Racing-owned imports continues to thrive, and our latest exciting prospect is Highland Bling, a former Irish galloper who has impressed us at home and caught the eye with an impressive trial on Tuesday at Pakenham.
He is set to debut for the stable at Flemington on&nbsp;ANZAC Day in an 1800m Bm70, and with shares still available, this is your chance to be part of something special - a runner at HQ in just three weeks!
Get involved with Highland Bling below 👇
<a href="https://www.phillipstokesracing.com.au/horse-available/10851/highland-bling" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.phillipstokesracing.com.au/horse-available/10851/highland-bling&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1743810541232000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3C5rR10O5FCteisi4zHmvO" data-removefontsize="true" data-originalcomputedfontsize="16">https://www.phillipstokesracing.com.au/horse-available/10851/highland-bling</a>

Stoked! Staying Focused

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.

Deakin to Bypass Sydney Cup, Set for Spring Staying Features

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>

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