Superstorm to bounce back from Stradbroke Handicap run at Eagle Farm on Saturday

Evergreen Group 1 warrior Superstorm wasn't suited by the way the Stradbroke Handicap was run and trainer Lauren Abbott has dropped him back a stack in class to a more suitable assignment on Saturday.

Superstorm, the Group 1 Cantala Stakes winner of 2021, went into the Stradbroke as a fairytale $151 chance for Abbott and connections, who paid $70,000 for him in an online sale.

Going into a hot Stradbroke first-up since January, Superstorm only beat one home and finished more than nine lengths behind outstanding winner Think About It.

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Now Abbott is stepping the ex-Bob Peters-owned galloper up to 1600m for a tilt at the Listed Tattersall's Mile at Eagle Farm on Saturday.

"It was probably a rare Stradbroke in the sense there was no breakneck speed at the front, and I was happy enough with his run," Abbott said.

"Jimmy Orman said that when the sprint went on, they were just too quick for him.

"He pulled up well, he was lacking a bit of match fitness.

"I want to get him up in distance now, so that's what we are doing on Saturday.

"I expect him to run a good race on Saturday.

"He's dropping about 20 lengths in class."

Superstorm will be burdened with the impost of 61kg on Saturday - conceding a 6kg weight advantage to the next highest weighted runner - but Abbott isn't concerned by that.

She said the galloper who has won almost $3m in career prizemoney is ready to rumble second-up.

She also takes heart from the fact that Annabel Neasham-trained sprinter Holyfield - who finished similarly to Superstorm in the Stradbroke - bounced back to be beaten less than two lengths in a Listed sprint at Ipswich last Saturday.

"Superstorm is a big and strong horse, so I'm not that worried about the 61kg," Abbott said.

"I had thought in the back of my mind that a mile could pull him up, just because he's had a throat operation.

"But Jimmy (Orman) came back in after the Stradbroke and said there was no issue with his breathing, it was fine."

Abbott wants to see how Superstorm races on Saturday before deciding what the future holds.

But she has tentatively earmarked the South Grafton Cup - a qualifier for the rich Big Dance later this year - as his next port of call.

There has been a sprinkling of betting support for Superstorm to return to his best and win at Eagle Farm on Saturday.

He is rated a $26 chance on TAB after opening at $41 earlier in the week.