Queensland Derby winning trainer Phillip Stokes will set his unbeaten two year old Sizzlefly for a 2019 Spring Carnival campaign after the filly made it two from two with a win in the $60,000 Mornington Nissan Handicap (1000m) at Mornington on Monday.

The Phillip Stokes trained Mr Quickie, above, winning the 2019 Queensland Derby at Eagle Farm. Photo by Steve Hart.

The Phillip Stokes trained Mr Quickie, above, winning the 2019 Queensland Derby at Eagle Farm. Photo by Steve Hart.

Sizzlefly scored a debut win over 1050m in a two year old Plate at Morphettville in January and then lived up to stable expectation with an impressive win on a heavy track at Mornington against her own age again.

“She’s shown us plenty at home, she’s been working with our better horses and never lost a track gallop,” Stokes told racing.com.

“We thought the wet track would be okay as she’d been working in recent weeks on the Pakenham track at times it has been soft.

“I think she’s a really nice filly that should measure up to spring races.

“We’ll see how she pulls up, there’s no rush. We’ll graduate to a Saturday meeting next.”

Sizzlefly had two and a quarter lengths to spare on her nearest rival Careless Whisper after handing the wet conditions to perfection as the $1.70 favourite and Stokes believes the Sizzling filly has the class to tackle some nice three year old races during the Spring Carnival.

Stokes was in Brisbane on Saturday to watch Mr Quickie race away from his rivals in the straight to take out the Group 1 $600,000 Channel 7 Queensland Derby (2400m) at Eagle Farm before heading back to oversee his team at Pakenham.

Mr Quickie will also be part of Stokes’ Spring Carnival contenders and is marked at $21 with Ladbrokes.com.au for the Group 1 $5.15m Stella Artois Caulfield Cup (2400m) at Caulfield on October 19.

About The Author

Mark Mazzaglia

Mark is a passionate journalist with a life-time involvement in the racing industry. He spent many years as an analyst and form expert at the Courier Mail and also has hands-on experience working with some of Queensland’s top trainers.