Femminile chasing South Australian and Queensland Derby double at Eagle Farm Saturday
The Stokes-trained Femminile will run in new colours in the Queensland Derby after Yulong Investments paid $1.5m for the South Australian Derby winner at a Gold Coast auction on Tuesday.
Thankfully for Stokes, Femminile's preparation was not disrupted by days spent parading at the Magic Millions sales complex.
I was very happy when they (Yulong) rang me straight after the sale to tell me we'd better get her back into her box,' Stokes said.
'She only had to spend one day at the sales, she didn't have to be there any longer.'
The Queensland Derby wasn't on Stokes's mind when Femminile returned to work for her autumn campaign.
The Group 1 Australasian Oaks was Femminile's initial target but Stokes decided to give the Dundeel filly a crack at the boys in the South Australian Derby.
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'She got beaten in the Oaks but I actually thought the fillies were better than the colts,' Stokes said.
'We were going to run her in the other 2500m feature (the Group 3 SA Fillies' Classic) the week after so thank God my racing manager pushed the button and nominated her for the Derby.
'She got a peach of a ride and got the job done.
'It wasn't the initial plan to go to the Queensland Derby but when she won the South Australian Derby, I thought, 'let's try and do this again'.'
Stokes said recent history was on Femminile's side in the Queensland Derby.
He noted several Queensland Derby winners, including his own galloper Mr Quickie, were beaten in the South Australian Derby before heading north.
'History tells you the South Australian Derby has been a good pointer for the Queensland Derby,' Stokes said.
'Last year, Warmonger was beaten in the SA Derby and won the Queensland Derby.
'Mr Quickie got beaten in the South Australian Derby and won the Queensland Derby and there's been a few others as well.'
Magicool and Ruthven reinforce Stokes's point.
Both horses were beaten in the South Australian Derby before claiming the Queensland Derby in 2015 and 2017 respectively.
Femminile is a $8 chance to become the first filly to win the Queensland Derby since the Bart Cummings-trained Dariana prevailed in 2010.
'She's very clean-winded and Ethan Brown galloped her on Tuesday at the Gold Coast and he was really taken by her,' Stokes said.
'If we get any rain, which I think is forecast, she'll love it.'
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