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Filly Coco Sun Wins South Australian Derby

Coco Sun brought the first victory in the race for the McEvoys.

Coco Sun and Jamie Kah after winning the South Australian Derby at Morphettville

Coco Sun and Jamie Kah after winning the South Australian Derby at Morphettville

Courtey of Morphettville Racecourse

Three weeks and a day ago, second-season sire The Autumn Sun didn't have a group 1 winner to his name and, for some, the wait was becoming tense.

Now they seem to be dropping like leaves from a tree around this time of year.

By the end of May 4, Arrowfield's young stallion had three, after his shining autumn grew even brighter with Coco Sun's outstanding, fighting victory in Saturday's South Australian Derby (G1) at Morphettville.

Bred by Tyreel Stud and bought by trainers Tony and Calvin McEvoy and Damon Gabbedy's Belmont Bloodstock for $250,000 (All figures AU$) at Inglis Classic 2022, Coco Sun came close to top-tier glory April 27 when The Autumn Sun sired the trifecta in the Australasian Oaks (G1).

As Tony McEvoy lamented to ANZ Bloodstock News May 3, that for him had come "in the wrong bloody order" as Vibrant Sun beat Private Legacy and Coco Sun ran third.

But while the McEvoys' runner found two other fillies better on that day, it mattered little as she emerged victorious Saturday against the colts and geldings, becoming just the third female SA Derby winner in 16 years.

Coco Sun didn't end up as the first female favorite in the race since Australian champion 3-year-old filly Delicacy won in 2015. With Coco Sun easing to $5 by post time, that tag instead went to Chris Waller's last-start VRC St Leger winner Ahuriri, who was backed in to start $4.80 in female-dominated betting.

But still Coco Sun reigned supreme, with her 1 1/4-length triumph over $6 third-favorite Warmonger completing a four-Saturday treble of group 1 winners for The Autumn Sun that began with Autumn Angel's Star Australian Oaks (G1) April 13.

In an all-homegrown affair, Coco Sun brought the first victory in the race for the South Australia-reared McEvoys, and a first hometown group 1 for the now Melbourne-based jockey Jamie Kah.

And Kah treated Coco Sun to a near-perfect ride, finding the fence from gate 8 to sit behind longshot leader Air Assault, by Justify . When that gelding rolled away from the fence in the straight, Coco Sun pushed up doggedly on his inside and surged clear over the final three-quarters of a furlong, holding plenty in reserve to defy Warmonger's rattling finish.

Air Assault held on well for third, ahead of New Zealand raider Antrim Coast, with Ahuriri fifth.

The victory brought further fulfillment for Arrowfield boss John Messara's long-held contention that The Autumn Sun, who managed just two lower-level stakes winners in his first season of runners, would be more a sire of 3-year-olds—particularly those striving towards classic distances—than juveniles.