Jamie Kah is yet to ride a Group 1 winner in her home state of South Australia and will be out to correct that glaring omission in the South Australian Derby at Morphettville.
With 12 Group 1 wins to her name, Kah went close to landing the Group 1 Australasian Oaks (2000m) at Morphettville last Saturday aboard Coco Sun, finishing third.
That filly, prepared by Tony and Calvin McEvoy, is Kah’s mount in Saturday’s Derby over 2500m.
Tony McEvoy has been at Murray Bridge overseeing the final stages of Coco Sun’s preparation for the Derby and said she looks great.
“I’ve been over here at Murray Bridge and had a look at her and she seems in fabulous order,” McEvoy told RSN.
“She finally looks like a fit racehorse. She’s a very deep, strong girl, that takes her racing well.
“I’m very happy with her.”
McEvoy is confident Coco Sun can take the step up to 2500m and become the first filly to win the Derby since Qafila in 2019, who won the Derby after finishing fourth in the Australasian Oaks at her previous start.
The similarities between the pair don’t end there as both fillies finished fifth in the Group 1 VRC Oaks (2500m) at Flemington the previous spring.
McEvoy said Coco Sun had made giant strides since the spring and does not believe the Derby is as strong a race as the Oaks was last week.
Coco Sun is the market leader at $4.60 ahead of Antrim Coast at $6 and Warmonger at $6.50.
McEvoy said Coco Sun deserves her place at the top of betting.
“She’s a very good filly,” McEvoy said.
“We thought that of her before her first start and she won her first two and then we stepped her up.
“She’s always shown us she will get to an elite level race, and this could be it.