Hoop Micheal Hellyer felt a great sense of redemption when Southoftheborder scored at Clifford Park on Monday after being tipped off the gelding in the mounting yard last month.
The four-year-old skipped out of maiden grade in dominant fashion on Monday at Toowoomba as the Phil Bobic-prepared stayer won by more than three lengths.
Jockey Micheal Hellyer went viral and created international headlines when Southoftheborder played up in the pre-race enclosure at Clifford Park in September when he was attempting to be legged aboard.
Following the tumble, Hellyer was stood down for 12 days through concussion protocols.
Once cleared to return to riding, the 37-year-old was back to the Toowoomba Turf Club aboard Southoftheborder and the duo completed a 'full circle moment'.
"I felt relief," Hellyer said.
"I was grateful the owners stuck by me and it was a bit of a redemption really to get the win.
"To get that win on a personal level, I thought I deserved that after what happened. It was really good."
Following Hellyer's tumble in the middle of last month, Southoftheborder was forced to be scratched from the Maiden Plate over 1625 metres, which the hoop says was deflating for connections.
After missing that run, the son of Territories was forced to head to the Gold Coast Polytrack for a 1540 metre event a fortnight later where he finished fourth.
The young stayer was back up to a suitable trip on Monday and broke through at his eighth career attempt.
"It is basically what the horse should have done three weeks ago, really," the hoop said.
"When I went up there, I thought he could win the race that he was in on that day before the drama happened.
"I was relatively confident he could win that race on Monday, but with the rail out and the sticky draw, it was a matter of getting the right run throughout.
"It was an awkward run race, but I kept him clear and got him going early with the rail out, he cannot sprint as he takes a long time to wind up.
"He showed what he had been promising to do once he gets out to a perfect distance and he won quite easy.
"This horse has always shown that he has got it there, he is just a very immature horse and he will take a lot of confidence from Monday."
The Bobic team have a Benchmark 58 Handicap over 2150 metres at Ipswich later this month in mind for their emerging stayer.
Based at Ipswich, the Bobic camp are enjoying a strong start to the 2025-26 season.
They have landed four winners at a strike-rate of a touch above 18 per cent, which is almost double the winning percentage the stable prevailed at last season.
Rider Hellyer believes there is more wins in store for Southoftheborder and thinks he will be competitive up to 2200 metres and beyond.
"If a mile-and-a-half race came up, he would eat that up really easily," he said.
"He jumps and settles.
"It is funny because when you get on him on the enclosure, he gets all stirred up and you think he could be a tough ride.
"But, once you get him out on the track, he is one of the more placid horses you could ride, he is so beautiful.
"He is very relaxed in his races, he jumps and settles and he just goes through his gears.
"The further the horse goes, the better he is going to be and he should get a lot of confidence from Monday's win."
Hellyer collected a winning double on Monday at Toowoomba as Hell Of A Lad from the Phillip Burns barn triumphed in a 1300 metre Class 1 Handicap event.
A few weeks on from his high-profile fall aboard Southoftheborder at Toowoomba, the jockey says he is still blown away by how much attention the video created online.
He fielded media enquiries from England and Ireland as well as from multiple outlets around Australia.
"It was heartwarming some of the messages I got from people asking if I was OK," he said.
"I spoke to lots of jockeys and trainers following it. I couldn't believe the attention it all got; it was gobsmacking."
