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Trainer Steele Ryan's gamble paid off when Chinchilla Rose earned automatic entry into next week's Stradbroke Handicap by winning the QTC Cup at Eagle Farm.
Trainer Steele Ryan's gamble paid off when Chinchilla Rose earned automatic entry into next week's Stradbroke Handicap by winning the QTC Cup at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
Prior to Saturday Chinchilla Rose was a borderline chance of making the Stradbroke field and she needed to win Saturday's 300m feature to be guaranteed a start in the million-dollar sprint.
Ryan nominated Chinchilla Rose for three races on Saturday's program and took the chance in the Group Two QTC Cup opposed to the easier races because of the race's ballot-free condition into the Stradbroke.
"That's always been the plan, the Stradbroke has been our goal all the way along and now it's just seven days away," Ryan said.
"I'll take her home and get her over this and hopefully come back and do it all again in seven days time."
Chinchilla Rose ($4.40 fav) finished powerfully under Stephen Baster's hard riding to down veteran sprinter Black Ink ($6.50) by a long neck with Toowoomba galloper Easy Rocker ($5.50) a length back third.
Baster said he thought his chances were almost gone shortly after the start when his saddle slipped.
"It slipped when I went to restrain her and I thought 'that's it for us' but I managed to balance it back up and she relaxed well," Baster said.
"I was always happy during the run, she's goes best when she's got something to chase and she'll be hard to beat in the Stradbroke with no weight on her back."
Chinchilla Rose drops half a kilo to 51.5kg in the Stradbroke Handicap and Ryan said the grey filly would have no problem with the seven-day back up.
"She'll be at the beach all week and she backs up well. The last time she backed up in seven days she won in Sydney a week after she got beat in Brisbane," Ryan said.
"She'll go to the beach for the first few days and won't go back to the track until Thursday when I'll breeze her up and I'll breeze her up again next Saturday morning and bring her to the races."
