Fresh from her victory in the South Australian Derby, Coco Sun is being set the challenge of conquering the Queensland Derby instead of reverting back to her own gender in the sunshine state’s version of the Oaks.
Coco Sun dominated the Group 1 2500-metre feature in Adelaide last Saturday being the first filly to win the race since 2019.
Having come out of the run well, co-trainer Tony Mcevoy is changing to the Group 1 2400-metre Derby at Eagle Farm on June 1.
“Horses need developing and some develop in the paddock but for one that is as strong as she was, she needed to develop at the races,” McEvoy told RSN927.
“And that has turned her into a high-quality filly.
“She is built like a colt, and to get two kilos off the colts when she is as strong as them gives her a great advantage.
“She has the profile of a filly who becomes a mare and can run very well in a race like the Caulfield Cup.”
Adam Blencowe, Racing and Sports’ senior handicapper, believes her presence can only be a positive for the Derby with fillies performing well in recent times.
“The Queensland Derby picture is currently lacking for both definition and depth which Coco Sun would certainly add,” he said.
“Dariana was the last filly to win the Queensland Derby some 14 years ago but, despite not winning, their record has remained strong in that time – something that becomes clear when looking through a lens of ratings rather than results.
“Of the 16 fillies to run in that time, only three have failed to run to match their form or better it in the Derby and none of the 16 went there rated as highly as Coco Sun.
“Coco Sun has clearly taken the benefit of an Oaks prep in the spring, coming back a better filly this time around and her South Australian Derby win earned her a rating of 108 – matching the rating run by Vibrant Sun in the Australasian Oaks and putting Coco Sun on the fringe of the top 20 three-year-old fillies nationwide.”
Coco Sun was rated a $9 chance for the Group 1 Queensland Oaks (2200m) but is yet to appear in Derby markets where Group 1 ATC Australian Oaks (2400m) winner Autumn Angel, also sired by The Autumn Sun, is the $3.50 favourite.
Nominations for the Queensland Racing Carnival’s group one features will be released on Tuesday.
Also on Tuesday morning, McEvoy will send two-year-old filly Arabian Summer around in Trial 17 at Doomben over 840m in her first outing since finishing fifth in the Magic Millions 2yo Classic (1200m) on January 13 .
McEvoy has an eye towards the $1 million Magic Millions National 2yo Classic (1000m) for the daughter of Too Darn Hot that will either be run at Gold Coast on May 24 or at Doomben the day after.
“We decided to spell her in Queensland with the nice weather up there,” he said.
“She won a jump out by six or eight lengths last week and then we’ll go to the race, she’s going as good as ever.”
