Phillip Stokes goes head-to-head with father Ron in one-off Birdsville Cup clash

Phillip Stakes and his father Ron would both love to win the Birdsville Cup but only one of them can on Saturday when they go up against each other in the iconic race.

Trainer Phillip Stokes will have a runner in the Birdsville Cup, along with his father Ron. Picture: Brett Holburt-Racing Photos via Getty Images

Group 1 winner Phillip Stokes has won big races around the country, but few would mean as much as Saturday’s Birdsville Cup for the now Victorian-based trainer.

Stokes grew up and was an apprentice jockey in the Birdsville region, under his father Ron, and is part of a special father-son duo in the race.

Remarkably, Ron Stokes handed in his trainer’s license in March 2021, but has taken it out again for one final crack at the Birdsville Cup, which he has longed to win.

Phillip Stokes raced in the Cup as an apprentice jockey almost three decades ago when he lived in the region, and says if he can’t win it for Birdsville icon David Brook with Neodium, he’d love nothing more than seeing his father win with Trumpsta.

“I grew up on the Birdsville track, my dad managed a lot of the big cattle stations out that way,” Stokes said.

“I did all my schooling through School of the Air, I was an apprentice jockey and I actually rode in the Birdsville Cup, it would have been 25 years ago.

“I actually ran second to one of David Brooks’ horses, it’s ironic because that’s who I am training for on Saturday.

“I ran second in it a few years ago with one of David’s horses, he is the chairman of the Birdsville racecourse and he is basically the Lord Mayor of Birdsville so to speak.

“I have been training for him for a long time now, and it has always been the target to try and win a Birdsville Cup for him.”

Stokes now runs a dual-stable operation out of Victoria and South Australia and is required to be at Caulfield on Saturday, but says it is a special family trip for his sons and father back to where it all began.

Irish jockey Emily Finnegan has made the trip from Adelaide to Birdsville to ride for Phillip Stokes. Picture: Matt Loxton

“My dad and sons have taken the horse up from Adelaide, it is a two-day trip for them,” he said.

“I’m rapt dad has gone up there as well, it is where he has cut his teeth for most his life, he is in his late 70s.

“He has a runner in the Cup in his own name, he hasn’t had a trainers’ license in years and he has taken it back out, just so he can have a runner in the Birdsville Cup.

“They left on Tuesday and stopped at a place called Marree, I’d say that’s probably my home town, there’s not much there really.

“They left there and it is about 600km from there to Birdsville, but it is a rough road.

“It’s good to have my young boys going there, Kerrin was a professional soccer player with Melbourne City, and the other one is Tommy, who runs the Adelaide stable - they have gone up there with dad. They are having a real road trip.

“They grew up in private schools in Adelaide, they were a little bit more spoiled than me, sometimes I wish I could have sent them up there, it would have toughened them up a bit.”

Capping off the remarkable journey is Irish jockey Emily Finnegan, who came to Stokes as a wide-eyed apprentice, before graduating to the senior ranks in South Australia.

“We are sending up our Irish girl Emily Finnegan to ride the horse as well, she would have never seen anything like it before, it will be an eye opener,” Stokes said.

“(Neodium) has drawn a wide barrier, to be honest I don’t know how it’s going to play out because I have no idea about the horses up there. It’s always great to have a runner in a time-honoured race, we’ll see how he goes.”

TAB have rated Neodium a $4.80 chance, while Trumpsta is $7.50.

Originally published as Phillip Stokes goes head-to-head with father Ron in one-off Birdsville Cup clash