June 22 - Tomorrow (Wednesday, June 23) Australian racehorse trainer Sue Grills is hoping a barrier 1 draw and a soft track will offset the 58.5kg weight assigned to her charge, Border Rebel, in the Listed Takeover Target Stakes at Gosford.

To be contested by 11 runners over 1200m, the $100,000 Listed Takeover Target Stakes could provide the ideal platform to showcase the skills of Border Rebel, a talented country-based sprinter that is expected to start the race as the favourite.

Said Grills, 'We should be able to get a similar run to the one we had in winning the sprint on Scone Cup day.' She was referring to the race in which Border Rebel also drew the inside post and bided his time before taking the lead and the win.

Although the trainer believes that the rain-soaked Gosford track could work in his favour, she is still concerned about the hefty weight assigned to her charge. 'I don't think he is well-weighted against a horse like Youthful Jack,' she explained.

'Youthful Jack has won better races than my horse.' Youthful Jack will start the Listed Takeover Target Stakes from barrier 2, but unlike Border Rebel, is reportedly not overly fond of soft tracks. Border Rebel has opened the betting at $2.90.

Grills will be hoping that Border Rebel romps home first tomorrow to help make amends from his poor performance in the prestigious QTC Cup, a race he was expected to dominate, but didn't, costing him a berth in the Stradbroke Handicap.

On Tuesday Gosford officials downgraded the track to 'slow' following 10mm of rain during the night. Over wet conditions such as this, Border Rebel is unbeaten in two starts, including a Listed race over 1200m at Eagle Farm in April this year.

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2012/04/02 06:42:16 AM