Rothfire bids to repeat winning form in Stradbroke Handicap at Eagle Farm

Rothfire’s $61 Doomben 10,000 upset was not a sentimental throwback. It was the kind of Group 1 win that forces a new reading of a horse at nine years old, especially when the same sprinter came into the Stradbroke Handicap off sharp recent work at Eagle Farm and with Brad Rawiller back in the saddle.

The $3 million Stradbroke, run over 1400m at Eagle Farm, was shaping as the ultimate test of whether that form was real. Rothfire was set to carry 56.5kg in a 23-acceptor field that had room for 18 runners plus five emergencies, and he drew barrier 13, or barrier 12 if the emergencies failed to gain a start. In a big-field handicap where early position can matter as much as ability, that draw left Rawiller with a tactical decision from the moment the gates opened.

The case for Rothfire was built on more than one flash of brilliance. He had already won the 2026 Doomben 10,000 as a $61 outsider, and that victory was his second Group 1 success, following the 2020 J.J. Atkins Stakes. Rawiller’s ride in the Doomben feature delivered his 26th Group 1 win, underlining how significant the result was for horse and jockey alike. With career earnings above $5.5 million, 12 wins from 44 starts, and form that stretched from 1000m to 1400m, Rothfire arrived with the profile of a hardened sprinter, not a one-race wonder.

History added another layer. The Stradbroke dates to 1890, and no horse has completed the Doomben 10,000-Stradbroke double since Campaign King in 1988. Rothfire had already shown he belonged in the race, finishing third in 2022, then runner-up in 2023 when he drew barrier 23 and still found enough to chase Think About It home. He also contested the race again in 2025, so this was no novelty entry but his fourth crack at Queensland’s biggest sprint handicap.

Rob Heathcote’s hand was strong beyond Rothfire, with Abounding also in the race from barrier 15 with Tyler Schiller booked. Even so, the stable’s focus rested on Rothfire proving that the Doomben breakthrough was not an isolated surge, but the kind of current form that can still shake a major Group 1 at Eagle Farm.