Brilliant sprinter Border Rebel is Stradbroke Handicap bound and his Tamworth trainer Sue Grills has no concerns about the hoodoo shadowing the path she has mapped out for him.Border Rebel took his record to 10 wins from 13 starts, the past six in succession, when he strolled home to win Saturday's $75,000 Quality Handicap at Eagle Farm on Saturday and Grills promptly set him on what others consider mission impossible.Grills said Border Rebel would attempt to do what no other horse has done in t
Brilliant sprinter Border Rebel is Stradbroke Handicap bound and his Tamworth trainer Sue Grills has no concerns about the hoodoo shadowing the path she has mapped out for him.
Border Rebel took his record to 10 wins from 13 starts, the past six in succession, when he strolled home to win Saturday's $75,000 Quality Handicap at Eagle Farm on Saturday and Grills promptly set him on what others consider mission impossible.
Grills said Border Rebel would attempt to do what no other horse has done in the past 31 years by wining the QTC Cup-Stradbroke Handicap double.
"He will have his next start in an Open handicap over 1100 metres at Scone on May 14 and then he will definitely start in the QTC Cup," Grills said.
"He is easily the best horse I have trained and that is the plan I mapped out at the start of this preparation."
Border Rebel ($2.80 fav) was confidently ridden by Grills' apprentice Tim Bell and the lightly-raced Johannesburg gelding skipped through the heavy conditions to score by 3-1/2 lengths.
Deer Valley ($4.40) held her ground in the straight after travelling just off the pace to finish second with north Queensland galloper Onalar ($51) rattling home late to finish another 1-1/2 lengths third.
Victorian mare Ortensia won last year's Group Two QTC Cup (1200m) and she went within a length of breaking the hoodoo when she finished an unlucky third to Black Piranha in the Stradbroke.
Bell said Border Rebel had all the attributes of a Group One racehorse.
"He did it easy and he showed the quality of the horse he is," Bell said.
"He has a high cruising speed and a brilliant turn of foot. "He's a better horse when he's ridden with a sit but he was doing it easily and I let him stride to the front because that was where he wanted to be."
Teenage trainer Ben Currie notched a career milestone at the meeting when underrated gelding Rothera won the $75,000 Listed Members' Handicap (1600m).
Currie, 18, took out his trainer's licence earlier this year and the youngster was almost lost for words after scoring his first Black Type victory.
"It's an unbelievable feeling," he said. "I was confident when the rain came but to actually experience it is an amazing feeling."
Rothera ($4.60) was well ridden by Jason Holder and he ploughed through the heavy track to beat Rockdale ($9) by a length with Age Of Heroes ($3.20 fav) two lengths away in third.
Currie said Rothera would have his next start in the Group Two Hollindale Stakes (1800m) at the Gold Coast on May 8.