Grills had made the long trek from his Black Mountain base near Guyra to Kempsey on Saturday where he won a 2200m benchmark 45 handicap with Tickets For Youth.

He headed home with his winner but did a bearing on the float and had to swap trailers to return to Coffs Harbour today where his lone starter, Fenerbache, finished too solidly for his opposition to win the $22,000 Puntingbaron Maiden Handicap (1600m).

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The six-year-old gelding son of Bernardini was having his 15th start.

"He came to me after half a dozen starts," Paul Grills told Sky Thoroughbred Central after the win.

"He'd never been over any further than 1200m. I thought the company down here might have been a bit strong for him."

Fenerbache made light of that worry and finished strongly for Jodi Worley.

Grills was delighted Fenerbache paraded better today with the help of the clerk of the course and his pony.

"He can be a bit of a handful at times," he said.

Ilia, in contrast, is a delight to train for Grafton's Shane Everson.

"She's a lovely, tough mare," he said of the nine-year-old daughter of Any Given Saturday.

"She loves the stable life, comes off the track of a morning bucking."

She won Monday's $22,000 Park Beach Plumbing Benchmark 66 Handicap (1400m), relegating Atlantic City and Stylish Pattern to the minor placings.

She has now won eight times from 94 starts for more than $190,000 in prizemoney.

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