The Phillip Stokes stable walked away from Murray Bridge with a treble and plenty more reasons to smile.
Koruto won like many expected early in the day, but it was the return to winning form of Too Good Too Hard and Highly Discreet that left the stable satisfied.
Koruto was dominant up on speed, while Too Good Too Hard powered past rivals with the blinkers on for her first win in more than a year. In addition, the highly regarded Highly Discreet reeled off some impressive closing sectionals to run rivals down from a long way back to win the last race on the card.
And the satisfaction didn’t stop with the winners.
Former boom sprinter Octane turned around three average efforts in his 2021 campaign and put any plans of retirement on hold with his bold second behind Too Good Too Hard.
Tommy Stokes said the stable had sharpened the horse over the hurdles in recent weeks and he was confident there is another win in store for the former high-priced yearling, who started his campaign with Goodwood aspirations.
The Stokes stable’s success continued a brilliant 2020-21 season for the two-state operation, which sits equal fifth on the Australian Trainers’ Premiership with 133 wins, sitting in front of the likes of Godolphin.
And its Murray Bridge treble drew it within striking distance of claiming SA premiership success, which would be a huge achievement for Tommy Stokes and the Adelaide team.
It sits just one win behind Tony and Calvin McEvoy on the SA title (having had 73 less runners), and just three wins behind Michael Hickmott on the Metropolitan Trainers’ Premiership.
There was also SA success across the border with Stuart Gower landing a Flemington win with Mongolian Marshal, while Jamie Kah kept her momentum rolling with a double to bring up her 94th city win for the season.
