The Tony & Calvin McEvoy-trained Victoria Quay knocked off a host of Kennedy Oaks-bound fillies in a gutsy effort to claim the 2020 Wakeful Stakes at Flemington on Derby Day.

Victoria Quay beat the Oaks-bound fillies in the 2020 Wakeful Stakes results. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

The progressive daughter of Dundeel is not nominated for Thursday’s Group 1 $1 million Kennedy Oaks (2500m) and instead is being nursed for a 2021 SA Oaks bid next May back home in Adelaide.

Still looking a little green down the famous straight at HQ, Victoria Quay was given a perfectly-timed ride by the airborne Jamie Kah.

Fresh off her outstanding Cox Plate Day rides, Kah celebrated just her second ever Melbourne Cup Carnival victory guiding Victoria Quay to a win over the Thousand Guineas runner-up Personal.

It was career start number four for the Wakeful Stakes winner who only came over from Adelaide a few days ago and she produced beautifully for the stable.

“She only come over a couple of days ago,” co-trainer Calvin McEvoy said post-win.

“What a fantastic thrill to win such a time-honoured race with a progressive filly.

“We knew she had a bit of a motor…we decided to really target the SA Oaks next year.”

The filly’s latest run back home on October 10 saw her finish second in the Listed Hill Stakes (1800m) and she caught the eye rising in class and distance in the Group 2 $300,000 Wakeful Stakes (2000m).

The Godolphin-raced Pensato led the Wakeful Stakes field around and she was first into stride upon straightening at the 350m.

Chasing her down were Tyche Goddess and Personal, while Kah began her move down the outside on Victoria Quay.

The three were engaged in a brilliant battle over the final furlong, with top honours eventually going to Victoria Quay ($7) despite her running a little wayward over the closing stages.

On the line she had a neck to spare over the beaten Tom Dabernig & Ben Hayes-trained favourite Personal ($3) up the middle, while roughie hope Tyche Goddess ($51) was good making it a three-straight hat-trick of third place finishes.

The eye-catcher looking ahead to the 2020 VRC Oaks meanwhile was Mark Newnham’s fourth-placed Miravalle who made up all the ground form the back.

All-in 2020 Kennedy Oaks odds online at Ladbrokes.com.au have Miravalle in from $12 to $6 following the Wakeful Stakes results and are available in full here.

2020 Wakeful Stakes Results

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	9	VICTORIA QUAY	Tony & Calvin McEvoy	Jamie Kah		11	55kg		$7
	2	1	PERSONAL	Tom Dabernig & Ben Hayes	Damien Oliver	0.3L	8	55kg		$3F
	3	10	TYCHE GODDESS	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Kerrin McEvoy	1.8L	9	55kg		$51
	4	8	MIRAVALLE	Mark Newnham	Craig Williams	3.55L	13	55kg		$6
	5	6	SALTO ANGEL (NZ)	Danny O’Brien	Damian Lane	5.8L	14	55kg		$12
	6	2	STARELLE	Danny O’Brien	James McDonald	6.55L	6	55kg		$10
	7	3	SUCCEED INDEED	Leon & Troy Corstens	Mark Zahra	6.65L	4	55kg (cd 55.5kg)		$9.50
	8	5	SILHOUETTE	James Cummings	John Allen	9.15L	3	55kg		$31
	9	4	AGREEABLE	Anthony & Sam Freedman	Jye McNeil	11.65L	1	55kg		$8
	10	12	BLAZING LACE	Dan O’Sullivan	Michael Poy (a)	16.15L	2	55kg		$301
	11	7	PENSATO	James Cummings	William Pike	16.25L	5	55kg		$26
	12	14	MRS MURPHY (NZ)	Paul Rocke	Jake Noonan	21.25L	10	55kg		$301
	13	11	LADY DEVEREAUX	Clinton McDonald	Jordan Childs	24.25L	12	55kg		$301
	14	13	PROUD MARY	Michael Moroney	Daniel Stackhouse	30.25L	7	55kg		$201

Table Credit: Racing Australia.