Jamie Kah was the homecoming queen in Adelaide on Monday, as she celebrated her first victory in the Group 2 Adelaide Cup (3200m), one of five wins during the meeting, on the Phillip Stokes-trained and OTI Racing-owned Daqiansweet Junior.
“It’s always been a race I wanted to win, I’ve got close before but to do it at home in front of friends and family, it’s very special, and for Phil and his team and OTI, I couldn’t have planned it any better,” Kah said.
Kah settled Daqiansweet Junior ($4.20 favourite) a fraction worse than midfield in a race that changed complexion at the halfway mark when Damien Oliver made a move to take Aurora’s Symphony to the lead.
Near the home turn, Aurora’s Symphony and Good Idea had drawn away from their rivals and it looked like the race was getting away from Kah, but the record-breaking rider wasn’t concerned.
“I wanted to be around Skelm and Tigertiger, and I was right there the whole time, so I was pretty happy where I was and it’s such a big, beautiful track, long straight, once we got out, I was pretty confident,” she said.
Kah had ridden Daqiansweet Junior in his two starts prior to today and had long considered him the perfect horse for South Australia’s premier staying contest.
“The first time I sat on him, (I thought) this horse is going to be the ideal Adelaide Cup horse because out there, anyone could ride him, he’s just a dream,” she said.
“He comes back, he stops, he starts, and they never really run a genuine tempo here, they go and they stop in these races.
“He was just beautiful, I could put him anywhere, today I almost messed up, I got off the back of Tigertiger, I probably should’ve waited, we got back on his heels on the turn and got out and I was really rapt with how strong he was late. I thought this horse might not be that genuine before but today, he was a hundred per cent on.”
Jamie Kah wins her first Adelaide Cup on DAQIANSWEET JUNIOR! ⭐️@RacingSA @pstokesracing @jamieleekah07 @OTIRacing pic.twitter.com/ZtokxPyC2L
— Racing.com (@Racing) March 14, 2022
Trainer Phillip Stokes admitted that Kah was very keen to ride his stayer in Monday’s 3200-metre race.
“She’s been at me ever since she’s been on this horse to run this horse in this Cup because she wanted to win it, so she knew the right horse to ride,” he said.
For Stokes, another South Australian based in Victoria, it was back-to-back Adelaide Cups after he won the race last year with Good Idea, who finished a brave fourth in this year’s race.
“It’s fantastic, it’s your hometown Cup,” Stokes said.
“We got a big thrill out of it last year, I wasn’t here, so it’s good to be here this year.”
Stokes paid tribute to his wife Ayumi and the team behind Daqiansweet Junior, who’s been trained from his property at Garfield.
He also marveled at the progression of the four-year-old gelding, who came over to him last year from Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman’s stable in New Zealand and has now won five of his last six starts.
“This horse was going around in a Class 1 at Moe in October, in one prep, it’s amazing,” Stokes said.
That first campaign mightn’t be over just yet, either.
“Sydney’s definitely on the radar, he’s nominated for the Sydney Cup,” Stokes said.
“We actually took Good Idea up there last year and he didn’t disgrace himself in it. We’ll just see how the horse pulls up, he’ll go straight back to Victoria in the morning, and we’ll just reassess.”
This article was written by Edward Sadler and can be read in full through Racing.com here.