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<h1>Marree To the Million-Dollar Moment: Phillip Stokes and a Lifetime with Horses</h1>
From cattle camps and School of the Air to Taiki Shuttle, Bill Mott and a family business split between Pakenham and Adelaide, Phillip Stokes&rsquo; journey has been anything but ordinary.
17 March, 2026&nbsp;Adam Pengilly</div>
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<div class="desktop"><img class="attachment-Full size-Full wp-post-image" src="https://idolhorse.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Stokes-illo.jpg" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" srcset="https://idolhorse.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Stokes-illo.jpg 1920w, https://idolhorse.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Stokes-illo-300x200.jpg 300w, https://idolhorse.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Stokes-illo-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://idolhorse.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Stokes-illo-768x512.jpg 768w, https://idolhorse.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Stokes-illo-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://idolhorse.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Stokes-illo-500x333.jpg 500w, https://idolhorse.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Stokes-illo-1895x1263.jpg 1895w" alt="Trainer Phillip Stokes and Japanese star Taiki Shuttle" height="1280" />TAIKI SHUTTLE, PHILLIP STOKES / Illustration by Idol Horse</div>
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If you were to look at a map of Australia, put a blindfold on and then try to put a dot where you thought the centre of the big, brown country was, there&rsquo;s a chance you wouldn&rsquo;t be far from a place called Marree.
It&rsquo;s so remote, the nearest town with services is a four-hour drive away. Residents would head across the outback to Birdsville and stock up on supplies, load their cellars, and know they wouldn&rsquo;t be back for months.
Marree was an old railway town, but it&rsquo;s been a long time since a train rattled through the dust.
At last count, its population was just 65, maybe double on Friday nights. The hotel in Marree would host the good folk who run cattle stations in the vast, red desert in Australia&rsquo;s heart. A plane would fly into town once a week &hellip; to deliver the mail.
They&rsquo;re far too humble to name landmarks or put up statues of famous townspeople, but it&rsquo;s fair to say few from Marree have travelled afar or achieved as much as Phillip Stokes, who was &ldquo;riding horses as soon as he could walk&rdquo; while his dad looked after some of the most isolated stations in Australia.
Given that background, it isn&rsquo;t surprising that Stokes is an unassuming type, someone who grew up doing his schooling via radio and comfortable in his own company, and with nature. But he&rsquo;s also a fascinating case study in how horse racing can take you from the middle of nowhere to grand places: a stopover in France, a decade in Japan where he met his wife, New York and the finishing school of Bill Mott.
And all the way back home again, where he&rsquo;s now one of the most astute trainers in Australia at the helm of a family business with wife Ayumi and sons Tommy and Kerrin &ndash; who both represented Australia in under-age soccer &ndash; working by his side.
&ldquo;I think what&rsquo;s driven me more is both the boys are so interested in the business,&rdquo; Stokes says. &ldquo;If they weren&rsquo;t as interested in it, I probably wouldn&rsquo;t be as interested myself because it&rsquo;s bloody hard work.&rdquo;
Stokes&rsquo; introduction to horses was almost out of necessity, rather than desire. His father Ron was a colt breaker who taught him everything he needed to know. In his childhood, Stokes would be gone for weeks on end at cattle camps.
&ldquo;It was a completely different lifestyle,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We had to use horses for work, not recreation.&rdquo;
It probably wouldn&rsquo;t have been much of a surprise when by the age of 15, Stokes was done with his School of the Air education &ndash; a way for children in remote communities to learn via the radio &ndash; and set his sights on becoming an apprentice jockey.
His dad had an association with an Adelaide trainer, Joe Hall, the father of Melbourne Cup winner and Hong Kong champion conditioner David Hall. Joe Hall had spent 17 years with Bart Cummings, so if Stokes couldn&rsquo;t learn from him, who could he learn from?
But like most kids, he found his apprenticeship tough. He worked hard, but rides were scarce. In those days, no matter how few rides you had, once you turned 21, the apprenticeship finished. No extensions.
Stokes tried his luck with an Alice Springs trainer by the name of Viv Oldfield, who later became one of the biggest landowners in Australia with sprawling cattle stations and drilling rigs. Many were bought from Gina Rinehart, an Australian billionaire and one of the country&rsquo;s richest people. Stokes loved his time with Oldfield, riding up to Darwin, but by the end of his apprenticeship, his weight was ballooning and his mind was curious.
He wanted to be a trainer, but thought it would be better to do it at the age of 30 &ndash; not 20. So, he went to France and Chantilly.
&ldquo;It was a bit different to the Northern Territory, I can tell you,&rdquo; Stokes laughs.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img class="wp-image-35726" src="https://idolhorse.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Stokes-family-1024x576.jpg" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" srcset="https://idolhorse.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Stokes-family-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://idolhorse.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Stokes-family-300x169.jpg 300w, https://idolhorse.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Stokes-family-768x432.jpg 768w, https://idolhorse.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Stokes-family-500x281.jpg 500w, https://idolhorse.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Stokes-family.jpg 1280w" alt="Phillip Stokes with wife Ayumi and sons Tommy and Kerrin" height="576" />
<figcaption class="wp-element-caption">PHILLIP, AYUMI, TOMMY &amp; KERRIN STOKES / 2011 // Photo supplied</figcaption>
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There&rsquo;s a lot of John Hammond and French influence in what Stokes has done during his career, but there&rsquo;s no doubt Japan has the most profound impact on him, both professionally and personally.
Stokes spent most of his time working at Taiki Farm, a global powerhouse back in the 1990s, and a place where Stokes devoted himself to horses and learning the language. He did both, but there was one horse which took him to places he never thought possible: Taiki Shuttle.
The chestnut with a white star on his forehead was a cult hero of his time, a two-time Mile Championship winner and Yasuda Kinen hero who went to France and won the Prix Jacques Le Marois. He was the Japanese Horse of the Year in 1998. By the following year, he was in the JRA Hall of Fame.
Stokes was the one closest to him.
&ldquo;I remember the first morning he came to us from Ireland (after being broken in),&rdquo; Stokes recalls. &ldquo;He had this bad habit of rearing up. He came out on two legs and I gave him a good rev up and brought him into line, but he bolted on me.
&ldquo;At the end of the gallop we were on, there was a big cliff. I just missed it. Thank God we didn&rsquo;t go over that because that would have been the horse done before we even started. He never did it again.
&ldquo;He was a beautiful mover, but he had quite bad feet. That didn&rsquo;t stop him. He used to float over the ground.
&ldquo;For me, I just thought I wanted to do something completely different, and you could even see back then, Japan was going to be great. They were doing good things in their breeding industry. You just had a feeling. Now, they&rsquo;re the world leaders.&rdquo;
After meeting Ayumi and having son Tommy born in Japan, did Stokes consider staying?
&ldquo;I could have almost stayed there,&rdquo; Stokes says. &ldquo;One of the Japanese trainers said, &lsquo;maybe sit the trainer&rsquo;s licence to get into the JRA.&rsquo;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m pretty sure I&rsquo;m still the only foreigner to sit the JRA test (as a trainer).
&ldquo;Basically, to pass it you&rsquo;d want to be a Year 12 A grade student, which I wasn&rsquo;t even in English. The actual test was nothing to do with horse racing, but more to do with your academic skills.
&ldquo;But not many people can say they&rsquo;ve done that test.&rdquo;
His mind still inquisitive and with a desire only building to one day be a trainer in his own right, Stokes also travelled to the United States to watch Hall of Famer Bill Mott up close. &ldquo;That was incredible to see too, the American way of racing,&rdquo; Stokes says.
But by now in his 30s and with Tommy readying for schooling, Stokes finally plucked up the courage to move back to Australia and start his own training business. He went straight to Adelaide where he bought some boxes at Morphettville. He always buys, not rents, and the same stables are still in the family to this day. But there were few horses to fill the boxes, apart from the ones his dad gave him.
&ldquo;Back in 2000, I&rsquo;d looked after multiple Group 1 horses, but that counted for nothing,&rdquo; Stokes says. &ldquo;I had to get horses. I started with nothing. I twiddled around with a few horses and worked on our strike rate.&rdquo;
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img class="wp-image-35732" src="https://idolhorse.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Taiki-Shuttle-farm-ARR-1024x683.jpg" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" srcset="https://idolhorse.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Taiki-Shuttle-farm-ARR-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://idolhorse.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Taiki-Shuttle-farm-ARR-300x200.jpg 300w, https://idolhorse.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Taiki-Shuttle-farm-ARR-768x512.jpg 768w, https://idolhorse.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Taiki-Shuttle-farm-ARR-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://idolhorse.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Taiki-Shuttle-farm-ARR-500x333.jpg 500w, https://idolhorse.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Taiki-Shuttle-farm-ARR-1895x1263.jpg 1895w, https://idolhorse.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Taiki-Shuttle-farm-ARR.jpg 1920w" alt="Japanese star Taiki Shuttle" height="683" />
<figcaption class="wp-element-caption">TAIKI SHUTTLE / Photo supplied</figcaption>
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Some train for scale, particularly in the modern era of mega stables swallowing up field sizes and the associated prize money, but Stokes has always been different. He&rsquo;s wanted small to medium- sized teams, preferring to wait for the right races, and getting noticed by his strike rate (winners to runners ratio). It worked.
One of Australia&rsquo;s leading studmasters, John Messara, took notice and started supporting him as Stokes started climbing the Adelaide trainers&rsquo; premiership ladder with his trademark broad brim hat.
For years, he was a favourite of punters, particularly when he crossed the state border for wildly successful raids on the Melbourne spring carnival. By 2019, he&rsquo;d outgrown Adelaide after multiple trainers&rsquo; premierships, and wanted a permanent base at Pakenham, on the outskirts of the city. He found a parcel of land &ndash; which he bought, not rented &ndash; and developed private training tracks and a swimming pool for a maximum of 50 horses. He came across with just six, but now the &lsquo;house full&rsquo; sign is up.
Crucially, Tommy and Kerrin have drifted away from promising soccer careers &ndash; Kerrin was a member of the Melbourne City side which won premierships and a grand final in Australia&rsquo;s elite A-League &ndash; to help the business. Tommy is with his dad at Pakenham, Kerrin running the Adelaide operation.
On Saturday, Stokes has the chance to score the biggest win of his career when he saddles up Stretan Ruler in the A$5 million Golden Slipper at Rosehill Gardens. The colt won the Silver Slipper and was a fast-closing second to Paradoxium in the Todman Stakes, a fortnight before the world&rsquo;s richest two-year-old race, which can make or break a future stallion career and even the lives of those who prepare them.
The mounting yard in the minutes before the Golden Slipper is a fascinating exercise in people watching. But few will be as calm as Stokes, who might be the only one in the middle of the commotion who can legitimately tell you what it&rsquo;s like in the red centre of Australia.
&ldquo;It will be a long way from Marree &ndash; put it that way,&rdquo; he says.
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Phillip Stokes Racing

Marree To the Million-Dollar Moment: Phillip Stokes and A Lifetime With Horses

Phillip Stokes

Tony Santic has won much bigger races, but Big Wigs&rsquo; victory in Saturday&rsquo;s The TBV VOBIS Platinum Showdown (1200m) at Caulfield reduced the prominent owner to tears.
It&rsquo;s been a tough period for the successful tuna fisherman, his wife and the team at MAKYBE (the Santic-owned thoroughbred stud farm in Gnarwarre, on Victoria&rsquo;s Surf Coast, west of Geelong).
Two weeks ago, they lost their great mare Makybe Diva, who died aged 27 after a short battle with colic.
The Diva raced 36 times, winning 15 races and placing on seven occasions. She won seven Group 1s, including three Melbourne Cups, a Cox Plate, and a BMW, amassing $14.5 in prizemoney.
&ldquo;This means a lot, especially after losing the mare,&rdquo; an emotional Santic told Racing.com.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s special to me because it brings back a lot of memories. Good memories.
&ldquo;My partner&rsquo;s done it pretty tough. We all miss her.&rdquo; The Phillip Stokes-trained Big Wigs was ridden to victory by Lachlan Neindorf, and the in-form jockey was wearing the Santic silks made famous by Makybe Diva.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s really special. Seeing the horse win in those colours, yeah, it&rsquo;s special,&rdquo; Santic added.
Stokes said it was a &ldquo;massive thrill&rdquo; to win a race for Santic, especially in those silks.
&ldquo;It means a lot to have these colours aboard. Mr Santic is here on course today and he&rsquo;s brought a whole heap of owners with him,&rdquo; Stokes remarked.
&ldquo;What a thrill.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a massive prize money race. It&rsquo;s a race we targeted for a fairly long time. He&rsquo;s been to Adelaide, he&rsquo;s come back, we thought he&rsquo;d be winning at Ballarat but he ran into a smart one, but he&rsquo;s been able to hold himself nicely here and Lachie summed it up perfectly.&rdquo;
A homebred for Makybe Racing and Breeding, Big Wigs is by Gold Standard from the Santic-owned Nooks And Crannies &ndash; a mare he paid just $20,000 for at the Inglis 2020 June (early) Online Sale.
A half-brother to the Group 2 placegetter Cavity Bay, Big Wigs&rsquo; win for the first of his fledgling career. He now boasts prize money of $608,000.
Race favourite Miss Chanel finished a close second, while Knurl was third. Trent&nbsp;Masenhelder

Emotional win for Santic

<h1>Big Wigs Takes Out Lucrative $1m VOBIS Showdown</h1>
<div class="author">Dane Squance - Saturday March 14</div>
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Two weeks after the sad news of the passing of Champion mare Makybe Diva, the well-known Tony Santic silks were worn to success by the Phillip Stokes trained Big Wigs (Gold Standard) in the $1m The TBV VOBIS Platinum Showdown (1200m) at Caulfield.
Having finished second in his only previous two starts, his last start effort behind Godolphin&rsquo;s Medicinal (Brazen Beau) has since proven a strong form reference with the winner coming out last Saturday and taking out the G3 Ottawa Stakes.
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<div class="caption none"><img src="https://breednet.blob.core.windows.net/breednet/news/horse/600/breednet-images-r7-big-wigs_-ridden-by-lachlan-neindorf_1343501_courtney-_edited-30085.jpg" alt="$1m The TBV VOBIS Platinum Showdown (1200m) goes to the Phillip Stokes trained Big Wigs - Image Grant Courney" />
$1m The TBV VOBIS Platinum Showdown (1200m) goes to the Phillip Stokes trained Big Wigs - Image Grant Courney
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Starting on the second line of betting, jockey Lachlan Neindorf settled Big Wigs towards the tail of the field after jumping from the outside barrier in the field of 12.
With Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young&rsquo;s I Am Immortal filly Lagunanini going to the lead from the inside barrier, the last start maiden winner kicked on the home turn and looked as if she would be hard to run down.
With leaders not really holding on when put under pressure, the runs were starting to come from back in the field with Neindorf coming the widest of all runners into the straight.
As the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trained, last start G2 Resiling Stakes third placed Miss Chanel hitting the lead at the 200m mark, Big Wigs let rip down the outside, joining the leader with 100m to run before the pair battled to the line.
Getting his head out in front to win by a half-head margin, Big Wigs took his overall record to one win and two second placed efforts from three starts with Makybe Racing &amp; Breeding-bred colt taking his earnings to $608,900.
<div class="embeddedContent oembed-provider- oembed-provider-twitter" data-align="none" data-oembed="https://twitter.com/Racing/status/2032680282667565131" data-oembed_provider="twitter" data-resizetype="noresize" data-title="Big Wigs">
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Tommy Stokes was on course to talk about Big Wigs victory in the race they have targeted a long way out.
&ldquo;He's the most quiet, honest colt to be around in the stable. He's a stable favourite and it's credit to the staff, they have done an incredible job."
&ldquo;It's a massive thrill. It means a lot to have these colours aboard. Mr Santic is here on course today and he's brought a whole heap of owners with him.
&ldquo;What a thrill. It's a massive prize money race. It's a race we targeted for a fairly long time. He's been to Adelaide, he's come back, we thought he'd be winning at Ballarat but he ran into a smart one, but he's been able to hold himself nicely here and Lachie summed it up perfectly.
&ldquo;It was where Lachie wanted to be pre-race. He was confident to be there and have one last crack at them. He was spot on and the horse was very tough.&rdquo;
&nbsp;
<div class="caption none"><img src="https://breednet.blob.core.windows.net/breednet/news/horse/600/breednet-images-r7-big-wigs_-ridden-by-lachlan-neindorf_1343916_courtney-_edited-30086.jpg" alt="An emotional win for the connections of Big Wigs, sporting the famed Tony Santic silks - Image Grant Courtney" />
An emotional win for the connections of Big Wigs, sporting the famed Tony Santic silks - Image Grant Courtney
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Jockey Lachlan Neindorf was a little emotional winning the racing in those special coloured silks.
&ldquo;It's super,&rdquo; said Neindorf. &ldquo;It almost makes me a little bit emotional, really. It's been such a big couple weeks for these colours, obviously, with the passing of the great mare.
&ldquo;It's just a privilege whenever you put colours like these on and to go out there and get the job done in a nice two-year-old makes it that extra special.
&ldquo;He was a little bit keen at Ballarat in behind them and when I brought him to the outside he really went down through his gears. I was aware of that today.
&ldquo;I think we were all a bit worried when the barrier draw came out, but it was a blessing in disguise in the end because we had all the three main dangers drawn inside of us.
&ldquo;I wasn't sure where they were going to be but I was confident that I would end up on the back of one of them and I was confident that my horse had a good turn of foot and the extra rise in distance was going to suit him that little bit more.
&ldquo;To be honest, I probably still let him go a little bit earlier. I probably could have straightened up and held onto him for an extra 50 metres before putting him through his gears because, jeez, he got there fast.&rdquo;
A half-sister to the G2 placed Cavity Bay (Cable Bay), who also finished fourth in the G1 SAJC Australasian Oaks, Big Wigs is the second winner from three to the races out of the Denman mare Nooks And Crannies from a family littered with numerous international G1 winners.
&nbsp;
<div class="caption none"><img src="https://breednet.blob.core.windows.net/breednet/news/sire/600/breednet-images-gold-standard-2024-parade-21621.jpg" alt="Big Wigs appears an up and comer for Widden Stud's Gold Standard" />
Big Wigs appears an up and comer for Widden Stud's Gold Standard
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&nbsp;
Nooks And Crannies has a yearling a filly by Lucky Vega (IRE) and after missing to Benbatl (GB) last season, was covered by King&rsquo;s Gambit in the Spring.
Although not a black type race, Big Wigs looks to be an up and comer for Widden Stud&rsquo;s Gold Standard, whose leading performer is the G1 winner Sheza Belter.
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Big Wigs Takes Out Lucrative $1m VOBIS Showdown

Article by Magic Millions Group One performed sprinter Stretan Angel has added more star power to May's Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale with connections confirming she will be offered at the Southern Hemisphere's leading breeding stock auction One of the finest sprinters of her generation with a trio of stakes wins and three Group One placings, Stretan Angel is also a half brother to this season's exciting juvenile Stretan Ruler. To be offered through the Yarraman Park Stud draft, Stretan Angel is sure to be among the most admired breeding prospects to be offered in 2026. A runaway stakes winner at two, a Group Two Danehill Stakes winner&nbsp;at Flemington at three&nbsp;and a stakes winner in October at Caulfield, Stretan Angel has spent her career racing against the best horses in the country. She was second, beaten a head, in the Group One Goodwood Handicap in 2024. In 2025 she was second in the Group One Lightning Stakes at Flemington and then at her following start finished&nbsp;third in the Group One Newmarket Handicap.&nbsp; Across her career Stretan Angel was trained by Phillip Stokes and the astute stable always held her in the highest of regard. "She's always oozed class since the day when she came back from the breakers," Assistant Trainer Tommy Stokes said. "We knew she had a good brain on her." "As you can see from her time as a two-year-old,&nbsp;we contested great races from straight away with her. She showed right from the start she was a high class racehorse."&nbsp; "Although&nbsp;she hasn't won a Group One she's always been in the mix with the top level elite sprinters during her whole career - she's a consistent mare with an outcross." As well as her race record and pedigree, which are first class, connections feel Stretan Angel has the other attributes required to take her to the top as a broodmare. "She's a lovely style of mare, she's very athletic.&nbsp;She's got a lovely temperament around the stables and conserves her energy well." "All in all she's a true athlete and true racehorse and her results speak to that," Tommy Stokes said.&nbsp; During her career Stretan Angel has defeated a swag of Group One winners including Amelia's Jewel, Benedetta, Giga Kick, Lady Laguna, Magic Time, Overpass and Switzerland.&nbsp; While Stretan Angel's record at the highest level is first class, her pedigree continues to improve through the exploits of her half brother, another Stokes trained star Stretan Ruler. One of the leading contenders for this year's Golden Slipper, Stretan Ruler scored a brilliant three and a half length win in the Silver Slipper before his closing second in Saturday's Todman Stakes to Paradoxium.&nbsp; "He's obviously heading to the Slipper in a fortnight," Stokes said of Stretan Ruler. "He's done an amazing job already and we are really excited about his future."&nbsp; "What is happening now with Stretan Ruler is fantastic, but he's not just going to be a two-year-old, he will go on with it. He's going to make a lovely three-year-old. He's got scope and looks the real deal."&nbsp; "Next prep he's going to keep improving. It's an exciting family to be a part of. The full sister to Stretan Angel (by Harry Angel) sold for big money and we liked that colt but couldn't afford her." "It's a family that's really producing and I'm sure will continue to into the future," Stokes said.&nbsp; Another quality offering for the Yarraman Park Stud draft is the exceptionally well related stakes winner Gala Queen. The Morphettville Guineas winning daughter of Deep Field is a half sister to the Triscay Stakes and Magic Millions Cup winner Semana. Their juvenile half brother Knightsbridge is a highly regarded juvenile this season for the Waterhouse and Bott stable. Also a winner at Flemington in September, Gala Queen is a four time winner and earner of over $188,000 from just 13 starts. "Yarraman is proud to present an exciting group of race fillies and mares at this year's Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale, highlighted by Stretan Angel," said principal Arthur Mitchell. &nbsp; "Phillip and his sons Tommy and Kerrin, along with the Stokes Racing team, deserve enormous credit for the way her successful career has been managed. We&rsquo;re grateful to them and Stretan Angel&rsquo;s ownership group for the opportunity to present her.&rdquo; &nbsp; "We're assembling another strong lineup for this sale, including Gala Queen for the Stokes stable, So Glamorous for Grahame Begg, plus in-foal mares such as Seonee for Joe O'Neill's Prime Thoroughbreds, Seonee being in foal to Hellbent." "We appreciate the support of the ownership groups who entrust us with their bloodstock, Magic Millions does a great job bringing together domestic and international buyers to cover all levels of the market."

STRETAN ANGEL A HEAVENLY NATIONAL SALE OFFERING

<h6 class="label">Written by Renee Geelen</h6>
Stokes Racing has had a massive week with Stretan Ruler, Rebel Tuesday, and Kazaru all winning stakes races. With all three coming in at good value prices, $220,000, $30,000 and NZ$27,500, affordability is a key factor when it comes to buying yearlings for the stable.
While all eyes are on exciting 2-year-old colt Stretan Ruler (Wild Ruler) as he charges towards the G1 Golden Slipper, the Phillip Stokes stable has also won stakes races in Tasmania and Adelaide in the past five days with Kazaru (NZ) (Embellish {NZ}) and Rebel Tuesday (Rebel Dane) respectively.
A dual state operation
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve still got a big presence in South Australia. We keep 30 horses in work there and around 50 here at Pakenham. We are into our seventh year in Victoria. We moved here because we thought we&rsquo;d done enough in South Australia with its smaller population, and we had the chance to build our own stable at Pakenham,&rdquo; said Phillip Stokes.
&ldquo;We planned to gradually grow and it&rsquo;s going along really well at the moment. I&rsquo;ve got a very good team around me.&rdquo; - Phillip Stokes
&ldquo;We planned to gradually grow and it&rsquo;s going along really well at the moment. I&rsquo;ve got a very good team around me. My oldest son Tommy is here at Pakenham helping me, and my younger boy Kerrin is running Adelaide. I also have my other assistant Shae Dinunzio at Pakenham, and he&rsquo;s currently in Sydney with Stretan Ruler.&rdquo;
Stretan Ruler&nbsp;won Saturday&rsquo;s G2 Silver Slipper and is being set for the G1 Golden Slipper.
&ldquo;We hold a lot of meetings on a Monday to go through all the horses and the logistics of it. Ever since I've been in Victoria, we've been averaging over 100 winners every season, which is great. I'm just trying to keep building on it.&rdquo; 
Rebel Tuesday&rsquo;s Listed Cinderella Stakes
On Saturday, Phillip Stokes had a dual-state 2-year-old stakes double with Stretan Ruler in Sydney and in Adelaide, his filly&nbsp;Rebel Tuesday&nbsp;won the Listed Cinderella Stakes. She was bred by Jen Campin and sold on Inglis Digital for $30,000 to JP Bloodstock and races in a big partnership led by Australian Thoroughbred Bloodstock.
&ldquo;We put her into our system, and she jumped out well, so we sent her over there. She won first up and now she&rsquo;s a stakes winner.&rdquo; - Phillip Stokes
&ldquo;She&rsquo;s owned by Darren Dance. He&rsquo;s sent quite a few to us. We put her into our system, and she jumped out well, so we sent her over there. She won first up and now she&rsquo;s a stakes winner.&rdquo;
Rebel Tuesday debuted at Murray Bridge in early October, placing in both her two starts in the early spring. She was spelled, had a jumpout at Caulfield Heath, then sent back to Adelaide where she won her maiden at Morphettville at the start of Febuary, before Saturday&rsquo;s Listed win. With two wins from four starts, Rebel Tuesday has earnings over $150,000.
&ldquo;She'll come back here and she'll go to the Ottawa Stakes in about two or three weeks time at Flemington.
&ldquo;We like to send all our 2-year-olds to Adelaide for their second preparation, so they get to see a different training centre. We feel it&rsquo;s very beneficial (to travel them).
&ldquo;Back in the day, I watched what John Hawkes and Peter Snowden did. I&rsquo;m pretty sure they send all their Sydney based young horses to Melbourne and they&rsquo;re very successful in doing it.&rdquo;
 Investing in ownership of facilities
One of the things Stokes loves about training at Pakenham is that he owns the barn and was able to build it on site to his own specifications. The family also have a farm nearby which they have purpose built to suit their needs, including a swimming pool, walking machines, and a sand track that has a hill included.
&ldquo;My wife Ayumi and son Tommy live on the farm at Garfield, and we train a lot of horses there too. Caroline Searcy did a Bred To Win episode at the farm a few years ago that is on our website and shows the place off well.
&ldquo;We own our stables here at Pakenham and the land and we've built the stables how we want them.&rdquo; - Phillip Stokes
&ldquo;We own our stables here at Pakenham and the land and we've built the stables how we want them. And adding to that we have our own farm, uphill sand track, walking machines, and I've got a 60 metre swimming pool and dressage arena. We have numerous paddocks and spelling paddocks that we can sort of swap and change whenever we want.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I designed it all myself. It was pretty hard early days because there were very few stables at Pakenham to get ideas from, but we've obviously been very happy for the end product, as we are finding plenty of winners out of there. It works really well. And on the farm, they're not just in barns, they can go outside in day yards.&rdquo;
By having room to spell horses on the Garfield farm, it allows Stokes Racing to have control over every step in a horse&rsquo;s career.
&ldquo;We keep it all in house. In Adelaide, we used to do that too, but we&rsquo;ve only got our stables there now and the horses are pre-trained here before they go there.
&ldquo;We send horses to Adelaide every week. Having trained there for a long time, I&rsquo;ve got a good handle on what type of horse is needed to be competitive there on a Saturday. We don't have many midweek runners in South Australia, mostly only Saturdays. We won the premiership there last year, which was very satisfying.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got a good handle on what type of horse is needed to be competitive there on a Saturday.&rdquo; - Phillip Stokes
&nbsp; The yearling sales season
With the improved facilities at Pakenham bringing better results on the track, this is having a full circle effect with Stokes Racing able to invest into better pedigreed horses at the sales.
&ldquo;We can probably afford to buy a better type now. Before we were restricted to going to the Adelaide sale and the Classic sale because we couldn't afford to go to those other sales. But now we can up our sights a bit more,&rdquo; said Phillip Stokes. &rdquo;
&nbsp; Tommy Stokes is a key assistant for the team when it comes to buying yearlings, and he&rsquo;s attending all the sales this year.
&ldquo;I'll be there from day one of the parades at every sale and then Dad comes along once we&rsquo;ve started to refine our lists to go through them then. We believe in doing it ourselves, to get a feel for each horse,&rdquo; said Tommy Stokes.
&ldquo;Knowing what we want to train is very important. And we trust our judgement which has been very successful so far. Now that we have moved to Melbourne, our facilities have changed as well. We used to target sprinters and fillies in Adelaide, to chase black type and turn them over, but now we are able to diversify and buy all types of different horses. We&rsquo;ve had a lot of luck with staying horses lately.
&ldquo;Knowing what we want to train is very important. And we trust our judgement which has been very successful so far.&rdquo; - Tommy Stokes
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s about affordability and getting value. We don&rsquo;t spend big at the sales, and it&rsquo;s important not to overstep our mark.&rdquo;
Stretan Ruler was purchased by Stokes Racing, in conjunction with Suman Hedge Bloodstock (FBAA), at last year&rsquo;s Inglis Easter Yearling Sale for $220,000, far below the median price for that sale of $360,000.
&ldquo;We bought Stretan Ruler at Sydney Easter sale for $220,000. He was a little bit immature looking there, but he's furnished into a lovely horse and we knew the family well,&rdquo; said Phillip Stokes, who trains Stretan Ruler&rsquo;s older half-sister&nbsp;Stretan Angel&nbsp;(Harry Angel {Ire}), a $1.2 million earner and Group 2 winner.
&ldquo;We bought one in New Zealand, a Profondo, this year. He&rsquo;s more of a staying type with OTI, so we are happy to buy all different types of horses.&rdquo; The&nbsp;Profondo&nbsp;colt cost NZ$60,000 from Windsor Park Stud&rsquo;s draft and is out of Listed-placed&nbsp;Deedee Panache&nbsp;(NZ) (Darci Brahma {NZ}).
The Stokes Racing team focus on type first, and then the mare&rsquo;s record with the stallion coming in third in the priority rankings.
&ldquo;It's always type first, and then to be honest we just need a bit of luck in securing a horse because pedigrees are just as important as type. Your chances of being better than the previous horses on that page are slim,&rdquo; said Tommy Stokes.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s what I liked about Stretan Ruler. He was by a first season sire but from a proven broodmare.&rdquo; - Tommy Stokes
&ldquo;We are more mare focussed rather than stallions. We don't focus on stallions as much. We're a lot stronger on looking at the dam side. It&rsquo;s what I liked about Stretan Ruler. He was by a first season sire but from a proven broodmare.
&ldquo;Obviously it&rsquo;s a harder sell (a yearling) when you buy a horse by a less commercial stallion, but our clients back us and our results speak for themselves.&rdquo;
Kazaru&rsquo;s Tasmanian Oaks
On Friday, Stokes Racing won the Listed Tasmanian Oaks with 3-year-old filly&nbsp;Kazaru&nbsp;who is owned by an OTI-led syndicate. She came off a maiden win at Sale before heading over to the apple isle for a Listed victory.
&ldquo;I've got a young girl out there looking after her called Lauren. She took two over there with Kazaru and Taramansour who runs in Wednesday&rsquo;s Launceston Cup,&rdquo; said Phillip Stokes.
&ldquo;We sent them over on the ferry from Geelong. They got there a couple days before. I haven&rsquo;t sent horses over there for a long time and it&rsquo;s quite a big deal. They leave here at lunchtime and don&rsquo;t arrive there until lunch the next day, so it&rsquo;s a 24-hour journey.
&ldquo;I had it in the back of my mind that it was like going to Adelaide, but it's not. It's a lot harder, but I must say the people are accommodating over there.&rdquo; Kazaru and&nbsp;Taramansour&nbsp;(Ire) (Dansili {GB}) are staying with John Blacker in Launceston.
&ldquo;To win the Oaks with her was really satisfying, as OTI have been great clients. And if we could if we could win the Launceston Cup on Wednesday, that&rsquo;d just top it off beautifully.&rdquo;
Kazaru was a NZ$27,500 purchase by OTI and Phillip Cataldo Bloodstock from Cambria Park&rsquo;s New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale draft. She&rsquo;s the sixth stakes winner for&nbsp;Embellish&nbsp;(NZ), a G1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas winner by Savabeel, who stands at Cambridge Stud.
&ldquo;To win the Oaks with her was really satisfying, as OTI have been great clients.&rdquo; - Phillip Stokes
&ldquo;She&rsquo;s a half to a horse I used to train called Daqiansweet Junior. He ran in two Melbourne Cups, one in Adelaide and a couple of Sydney Cups, so she&rsquo;s obviously got a lot of stamina in the family. She&rsquo;ll be aimed at the South Australian Oaks. She&rsquo;s coming back to our farm in the next few days here at Garfield, next to Pakenham racecourse.&rdquo;
A few to follow in the autumn
Stretan Ruler is on a G1 Golden Slipper pathway. Stokes hasn&rsquo;t had a runner in the Golden Slipper yet, so just getting there with Stretan Ruler will be a big step forward for the stable.
&ldquo;I know what it will take to get him there and it&rsquo;s just having the horse as good as we can on the day and the rest will look after itself,&rdquo; said Phillip Stokes.
Who else is in the stable that we should be watching out for?
&ldquo;Regal Award. He&rsquo;s a really nice horse who we might take through to Sydney. If he keeps progressing, I think he could potentially head to the Stradbroke.&rdquo; - Phillip Stokes
&ldquo;Regal Award. He&rsquo;s a really nice horse who we might take through to Sydney. If he keeps progressing, I think he could potentially head to the Stradbroke.&rdquo;&nbsp;Regal Award&nbsp;(Ole Kirk) won twice in the spring, and the 3-year-old gelding also ran second in the G3 Carbine Club Stakes.
&ldquo;We are setting a few for Adelaide for those Group 1s. Stretan Angel, Ferivia, Snow Mercy, they are all nice horses. Athanatos is on the border of being a nice horse. He's won a stakes race. And I&rsquo;m hoping to win the Adelaide Cup with a horse called Highland Bling who went well on Saturday.&rdquo;
The two 3-year-old fillies mentioned are&nbsp;Snow Mercy&nbsp;(Toronado {Ire}), won the G3 Scarborough Stakes at Moonee Valley in September, and&nbsp;Ferivia&nbsp;(Astern), who won the G2 Thousand Guineas Prelude.&nbsp;Athanatos&nbsp;(I Am Immortal) is a 4-year-old gelding who won the G3 SAJC Chairman&rsquo;s Stakes last season at three.
Highland Bling&nbsp;(Ire) (Highland Reel {Ire}) is an OTI-owned import who ran second in the G3 Lord Reims Stakes on Saturday.
<h6 class="label">&nbsp;</h6>

Stakes winners in 3 states

On Saturday, we will unleash our very promising gelding Regal Award.
The son of Ole Kirk, who turned heads at his most recent Pakenham jump out, will kick off his spring campaign in a 1200m 3YO C&amp;G contest at The Valley.
While Regal Award is currently a one start maiden, he has shown us above average ability at home and profiles like a Group horse in the making.
Daniel Stackhouse has been booked to ride Regal Award, who maps to get a lovely run from barrier three.
Red Hot Nicc will be out to make it two on the trot when he contests another 1200m Bm84.
The Dalziel Racing-owned galloper hasn&rsquo;t missed a beat since last fortnight&rsquo;s dominant front running display and will retain the services of Tom Stockdale. 
Congratulations to the Brook family on the breathtaking G3 Quezette Stakes victory by their homebred filly Ferivia.
The daughter of Astern, who savaged the line to topple a field of quality fillies, has pulled up well from the run and will be next seen over 1200m in the Listed Atlantic Jewel Stakes at The Valley on September 6th.&nbsp; Racing Manager&rsquo;s Nick Pinkerton and Jackson Frantz reflect on Ferivia&rsquo;s G3 Quezette Stakes success before previewing the stables runners at The Valley and Morphettville Parks on Saturday.
A team of five will assemble at Saturday&rsquo;s&nbsp;Morphettville Parks&nbsp;meeting, headed by&nbsp;The Mansman&nbsp;in&nbsp;Race 7&nbsp;and Fulmen Park&rsquo;s&nbsp;Special Dancer&nbsp;in&nbsp;Race 5.
➡️ <a href="https://stokesracing.acemlna.com/lt.php?x=41Zy~GDDKXea5sF._Ay9VBWg~XAguN-jjetjZKQ5J6XM55z90Uy.zOFs142hiNg~jvY1XHl2VeOa6H~t-x6.hFVv2H6lkUA0_uc">Click to listen to the full podcast</a> 
Stokes Racing is set to hold a strong hand at next Saturday&rsquo;s Caulfield meeting, led by OTI Racing&rsquo;s Melbourne Cup-bound Deakin in the G1 Memsie Stakes and Stretan Angel in the G3 Cockram Stakes.
And to celebrate we are teaming up with Edge Thoroughbreds to take over the Hiskens Observatory for an exclusive, one-day-only event&nbsp;hosted by James Tzaferis, blending premium race day hospitality with expert insights to elevate your day at the track.
Enjoy uninterrupted views of the home straight from tiered seating and a full glass frontage as you indulge in a gourmet grazing menu paired with a premium beverage package &mdash; all included.
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Stoked! A Regal Award

Spring is well and truly on the horizon with the stable gearing up for a Saturday of feature action at&nbsp;Caulfield, headlined by&nbsp;Ferivia&nbsp;in the&nbsp;G3 Quezette Stakes.
The&nbsp;Brook family-owned and bred filly, who was super last start when finishing second at&nbsp;Sandown, will appreciate the step up to&nbsp;1100m&nbsp;and has the talent to make her presence felt against quality opposition.
Lachy Neindorf, who has ridden Ferivia in her two starts to date, will partner the daughter of&nbsp;Astern&nbsp;from barrier two of ten.
Skippers Canyon&nbsp;(Race 2), a dominant winner at his first start for the stable, will take his place in an&nbsp;1800m Bm74.
The&nbsp;OTI Racing-owned import showed an electric turn of foot to go from last to first at&nbsp;Sandown&nbsp;and looks an extremely progressive type that will relish the extra&nbsp;400m&nbsp;on offer.
Gala Queen&nbsp;(Race 3) is another galloper that looks poised to strike on Saturday.
Her first up performance suggests she has returned in super order and the step up from&nbsp;1100m&nbsp;to&nbsp;1400m&nbsp;will suit her down to the ground.
Blake Shinn&nbsp;is a key booking and will ensure Gala Queen gets every chance at success in the Bm78 contest.
We are set to saddle up six runners at the&nbsp;Morphettville Parks&nbsp;meeting on Saturday, including&nbsp;Zou Doll&nbsp;(Race 1) and&nbsp;Regal Secret&nbsp;(Race 5), with the pair making the journey from our Pakenham base on Thursday and arriving at our&nbsp;Adelaide&nbsp;stable in good order.
Racing Manager&rsquo;s&nbsp;Nick Pinkerton&nbsp;and&nbsp;Jackson Frantz&nbsp;preview the stables runners at&nbsp;Caulfield&nbsp;and&nbsp;Morphettville Parks&nbsp;on Saturday before providing updates on&nbsp;Stretan Angel,&nbsp;Deakin,&nbsp;Athanatos,&nbsp;Comanche Miss&nbsp;and&nbsp;Regal Award&nbsp;after they all jumped out in style at&nbsp;Pakenham&nbsp;on Tuesday.
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Stoked! Ferivia To Fly

On Saturday, we will saddle up&nbsp;Red Hot Nicc&nbsp;and&nbsp;Twin Perfection&nbsp;in the final event at&nbsp;The Valley.
While both gallopers haven&rsquo;t figured prominently in recent starts, we are confident in improved performances, with&nbsp;Red Hot Nicc&nbsp;boasting a superb record at&nbsp;The Valley&nbsp;having finished either first or second in four of his five starts at the track.
He will need to overcome&nbsp;barrier 14&nbsp;but has the speed to cross and offset the draw without much issue.
Twin Perfection&nbsp;is another that can bounce back to form after striking a bottomless&nbsp;Morphettville&nbsp;track last time out. We are hoping&nbsp;Lachy Neindorf&nbsp;can position him just in behind the speed from&nbsp;barrier 10. 
Special Dancer&nbsp;and&nbsp;Brave Star&nbsp;will represent the stable at&nbsp;Morphettville&nbsp;on Saturday and both looked to be well placed.
The&nbsp;Regal Bloodstock-owned Brave Star will be out to go one better than last start and maps to get a good run from&nbsp;barrier 4&nbsp;with&nbsp;Jacob Opperman&nbsp;aboard.
Fulmen Park&rsquo;s&nbsp;Special Dancer, who produced a strong second at&nbsp;Geelong&nbsp;last start has settled in well at our&nbsp;Morphettville&nbsp;base and can make her presence felt in the eighth event over&nbsp;1200m.
We will also take two runners to&nbsp;Mildura&nbsp;on Saturday with&nbsp;Sectors&nbsp;(Race 1) and&nbsp;Annanda&nbsp;(Race 2) out to break their maiden statuses. Our weekly preview podcast is back with Racing Manager's&nbsp;Nick Pinkerton&nbsp;and&nbsp;Jackson Frantz&nbsp;previewing the stables runners on Saturday before discussing stable stars&nbsp;Deakin&nbsp;and&nbsp;Stretan Angel&nbsp;ahead of their second jump outs at&nbsp;Pakenham&nbsp;this coming Tuesday.
<a href="https://stokesracing.acemlna.com/lt.php?x=3TxtmrUFUqPUT55qA3P3UuF0~6Agjg~yle41kaQ5JaTP5a7.-dPGU.Sg2qIoi__fx1GwX5oWInGg95CKzNPI" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://stokesracing.acemlna.com/lt.php?x%3D3TxtmrUFUqPUT55qA3P3UuF0~6Agjg~yle41kaQ5JaTP5a7.-dPGU.Sg2qIoi__fx1GwX5oWInGg95CKzNPI&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1755316356808000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0qD9-kFGB4TZDmrqzWp03z">Click to listen to the full podcast</a> 
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Stoked! The Valley & Morphettville

While&nbsp;Taramansour&nbsp;will be our sole runner at&nbsp;Flemington&nbsp;this Saturday, a large team will assemble at&nbsp;Murray Bridge&nbsp;as we look to kick off the new season with momentum, fresh off securing the 2024/25&nbsp;South Australian Metropolitan Premiership&nbsp;in emphatic style.
The&nbsp;Regal Bloodstock-owned&nbsp;Taramansour,&nbsp;who caught the eye with a strong finish first-up at&nbsp;Caulfield, will contest&nbsp;Race 8&nbsp;on the program over&nbsp;1620m.
Expect him to be charging home once again as we look to build his campaign toward staying trips. Meanwhile, we saddle up a competitive team at&nbsp;Murray Bridge, with&nbsp;Lavish Thinker&nbsp;and&nbsp;The Mansman&nbsp;set to fly the&nbsp;National Jockeys Trust&nbsp;silks in races 4 and 9 respectively.&nbsp;
Both were scratched from last weekend&rsquo;s heavily rain-affected&nbsp;Morphettville&nbsp;meeting, and they now line up on more favourable Soft ground.
Other runners on the day include&nbsp;Broadbeach Miss&nbsp;(Race 2) and&nbsp;Sign From Above&nbsp;(Race 6) for&nbsp;Bennett Racing&nbsp;while&nbsp;Runaway Statement&nbsp;looks a leading hope in the 1200m&nbsp;Bm64&nbsp;(Race 7).
Dalziel Racing&rsquo;s&nbsp;Stolen Kiss&nbsp;continues her campaign in Race 2, but once again faces a wide draw,&nbsp;barrier 13. On Wednesday morning at&nbsp;Caulfield, stable stars&nbsp;Deakin&nbsp;and&nbsp;Stretan Angel&nbsp;took the next step in their preparations, both producing encouraging efforts in their first jump outs for the campaign.
The pair will jump out again at&nbsp;Pakenham&nbsp;on&nbsp;Tuesday, August 12, ahead of highly anticipated returns in the&nbsp;G1 Memsie Stakes&nbsp;(Deakin) and&nbsp;G3 Cockram Stakes&nbsp;(Stretan Angel).
It was also a strong showing midweek from&nbsp;Skippers Canyon, who made a winning debut for the stable with a stunning last-to-first performance at&nbsp;Sandown.
The&nbsp;OTI Racing-owned Kiwi import was resuming over&nbsp;1400m&nbsp;and will now rise to&nbsp;1800m&nbsp;for a&nbsp;Bm74&nbsp;at Caulfield on&nbsp;August 16.

Stoked! Flemington & Murray Bridge

We will be represented by exciting debutant Bold Secret at Flemington on Saturday when he steps out in Race 4 on the program.
Our son of Brazen Beau, who will be ridden by Craig Williams, has shown plenty of ability at home and in his jump outs to date. If he handles the straight and overall occasion we expect a bold showing.&nbsp;
Owned and bred by the Board family, Bold Secret is out of Private Nancy, herself the daughter of Phillip&rsquo;s 2003 Adelaide Guineas winner Nancy Eleanor.
Red Hot Nicc is our other runner at Flemington and will step out to the 1200m off the back of a pleasing tick over jump out between runs.
We will take a team of seven to Morphettville on Saturday, headlined by OTI Racing's last start stakes performer Kazaru in the G3 Sires' Produce Stakes.
Racing Manager's Nick Pinkerton and Jackson Frantz preview our runners at Flemington and Morphettville on Saturday.
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We&rsquo;re excited to offer shares in a strong, compact, and athletic daughter of Doubtland, purchased from the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale by respected bloodstock agent Suman Hedge, with a firm tick of approval on type from the Stokes Racing team.
This filly, who impressed Phillip during her first preparation at Pakenham, is by a stallion we know well, with the exciting Sassy For Sure set for a breakout second preparation and the Hong Kong-bound Tom a city winner in his own right. &nbsp;
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Emotional win for Santic

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