Richard Jolly had to wait almost 14 years to train his first Group One winner.

He hopes he only has to wait a week to celebrate another.

Kushadasi prevailed in a photo finish to Saturday’s South Australian Derby to give Jolly his biggest win since he took out a trainers’ licence in 2000 soon after retiring from a career in the saddle.

Jolly has Karacatis lining up in Saturday’s Group One Goodwood (1200m) with the sprinter out to improve on his fourth-placed finish a year ago.

“Last year he got beaten a length and I’d probably say he’s going as well this time in,” Jolly said.

“It’s a similar type of race, so he’s definitely a live chance.

“It’s a very hard race to win. You need to draw the right gate, be in the right spot, but he’s definitely one of the live chances in it, I feel.”

Dwayne Dunn rode Karacatis to second behind Essay Raider in the Group Three McKay Stakes (1100m) last start but he is committed to Gregers on Saturday so Jolly has booked Mark Zahra.

While Essay Raider, a Goodwood rival, beat Karacatis by three lengths last start, Jolly still thought Karacatis’ run had merit.

“He was in the wrong spot,” he said.

“I didn’t want him as close as he was and he was on the inside and probably not in the right part of the track on the day and the winner was.

“Essay Raider swooped down the middle, but late in the race Karacatis really hit the line well”.

Kushadasi’s Derby win by the barest of margins over Scratchy Bottom gave Jolly the distinction of having won a Group One as a jockey and a trainer.

As a 16-year-old, Jolly rode Saratov to win the 1989 Perth Cup and said his first top-level win as a trainer had been something special.

He had come close in Group Ones previously including a runner-up finish in the SA Derby a year earlier with Hioctdane.

“It was great,” he said of the breakthrough Derby win.

“Especially to do it at home with all your friends and family around made it a bit more special.”