Rakero Rebel (NZ) Clinches Deserved Group One Title

Rakero Rebel (NZ) (Rock N Roll Heaven) clinched an overdue top level success with her brilliant win in the A$150,000 Group One Queen Of The Pacific (2760m) at Melton on Saturday night.

The NZB Standardbred graduate showed blistering speed to score and head a quinella of New Zealand breds in the mares feature.

Rakero Rebel has been a brilliant performer since heading to the Victorian stable of Jess Tubbs.

Tubbs and partner Greg Sugar sourced the mare for their stable clients from New Zealand owner Ronnie Dawe of Dawe Contracting Ltd.

Dawe secured Rakero Rebel for $22,000 from the Dancingonmoonlight draft at the 2020 National Yearling Sale at Christchurch.

Rakero Rebel was bottled away three back in the inner for most of the Group One Queen Of The Pacific, with Sugars in the sulky.

The star reinsman knew his charge had plenty to offer, but whether she could get the chance to win was another matter.

“I sort of knew rounding the corner that I had a lot of horse left but whether the gaps came in time to be a winning hope, I was unsure,” Sugars said.

“I never really got clear until halfway up the straight and she is just that quick over a short period of distance she got us over the line.”

Runner-up Aardies Express (NZ) (Always B Miki) set her own terms in the lead of the Group One feature.

Sugars was happy to see the tempo increase as the race went on to boost Rakero Rebel’s chances.

“It did pick up a little bit through the middle but I thought they had had it too easy to say I was going to pick them up and win.”

“But I was very confident with the way the horse was travelling that I was going to hit the line strong.”

Rakero Rebel has been the most outstanding of group race performers since crossing the Tasman.

The classy mare had won twice at Group Three level and had placed five times at Group One, Group Two and Listed level before her thoroughly deserved Group One Queen Of The Pacific win.

In doing so, Rakero Rebel went one better than her second placing in the feature event last year.