Jamie Kah left Adelaide to set-up her burgeoning career in Melbourne without a Group 1 feature on the mantel piece and was determined to right that wrong.
After going down narrowly in the Australasian Oaks (2000m) on Coco Sun at Morphettville last week, the pair returned for a tilt at the Group 1 South Australian Derby (2500m) on Saturday.
The race could not have been scripted more perfectly for Kah who enjoyed the perfect trail in third place behind the leader Air Assault.
Kah took the Tony and Calvin Mcevoy-trained Coco Sun ($5) to the front turning for home and held off a late charge from Warmonger ($6) to score by 1-¼ length with Air Assault ($26) a further three-quarters-of-a-length away third.
While Kah has now ridden 13 Group 1 winners on the eastern seaboard, it was one in her former hometown that she harboured most.
“All that I wanted to do was ride a Group 1 winner in Adelaide in front of Mum and Dad and family and all those that have supported me,” Kah said.
“John (Macmillan) is here, so I’ve got to thank Johnny. He set me up, got me going and had me stay with Mick Price and got me going there and then I got going with Tony.
“I had so many years here riding with Tony and so many winners and he looked after me so well, so it’s nice to repay him.”
Kah was bullish about the prospects of Coco Sun after riding the filly into third place in the Australasian Oaks (2000m) last week.
“She finished off last start so well and was a real lion after the line,” Kah said.
“Today she was so tough. She was feeling the pinch, but she was sticking her head out trying her best.”
Tony McEvoy said he was elated at supplying Kah with her first Group 1 winner on home soil.
They were a formidable team when McEvoy trained out of the Kildalton Park in the Barossa Valley before making the move to Ballarat.
“Well, I can’t thank her enough for what she did for my brand and my stable,” McEvoy said.
“She kept beating me and I thought ‘how am I going to change this?’
“The only way I could do it was to get her on board. Sadly, she out-grew me, which was always going to be the way, but she’s been a star forever and I love her.”
Coco Sun was tried over 2500m during the spring, finishing fifth in the Group 1 VRC Oaks at Flemington, but McEvoy said she had now developed into the most gorgeous filly.
Now McEvoy and his son will ponder whether the filly heads to Brisbane for the Group 1 Queensland Oaks (2200m) at Eagle Farm next month.
“It’s five weeks now to the Queensland Oaks,” McEvoy said.
“In five weeks’ time (owner) Terry Jarvis will be looking for some sun out of New Zealand, so if she’s well, we’ll go to the Oaks.”
