Garry “Gus” Selkrig says there is no other race he would rather win than Sunday afternoon’s $87,000 Group 2 Sportsbet Healesville Cup Final (350m), and that includes the Melbourne Cup, Australian Cup …you name it.

Selkrig is dreaming of celebrating his fourth country cup triumph with Deadly Rookie (box 5), a $13 outsider in Sportsbet’s Healesville Cup market, despite a PB 19.09sec heat victory, the third quickest qualifying time.

Selkrig is hoping to add to the Healesville Cup to his victories with iron dog Stagger in the 2012 Warragul Cup, To The Galo’s in the 2016 Warragul Cup, and Peter Galo in the 2018 Shepparton Cup.

“Of course he can win it!” Selkrig said of Deadly Rookie.

“This is the race I’m really after. I’d rather win a Healesville Cup than a Melbourne Cup!”

“It won’t be easy, because you’ve got the champion, Unleash Collinda, and Maybe Yesterday – they’ve been flying up there – and Quinlan Bale, but after them, who is there? You’ve got Deady Rookie!

“I think box five is okay.

“It’s a weird race. They’re all drawn upside down. I was talking to Jason (Thompson, trainer of Unleash Collinda) about the race and the leader probably wins. Which finalist went the quickest early in the heats? Deadly Rookie (6.45sec).

“I’m pleased to head into the race as the underdog. There’s no pressure on me.

“Even if we run last we get $1000. Where else are you going to get $1000 on a Sunday afternoon? But I think we’ll do a lot better than that.

“I love going to Healesville and this is the race I’m really after. I’d rather win a Healesville Cup than a Melbourne Cup!”

WATCH: DEADLY ROOKIE (B2) held NICOLSON BALE (B8) at bay to win his G2 Healesville Cup heat in a new PB of 19.09sec, his fourth win from five starts over 350m.

Deadly Rookie is a superbly bred son of Barcia Bale and Elevated, raced by the Plush Syndicate that includes breeder Harry Manolitsis.

Ironically, Elevated was runner-up to Peter Galo in the Shepparton Cup and Selkrig and Manolitsis have now teamed up in pursuit of country cup glory.

Deadly Rookie has the impressive strike rate of 17 wins from 42 starts, while he’s only been beaten once over 350m at Healesville, winning four from five.

He ran third to Unleash Collinda, beaten just two lengths, in The Emerald Final over 300m in March, after being nosed out by the Cup favourite in the heats.

“He loves Healesville, he loves anywhere actually!” Selkrig said.

“He’s so underrated. Nobody gave him a chance in his heat – they didn’t have him in the first four!

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“He’s had his injuries and had his issues. I’ve just got to work on them. Occasionally, he has a bit of a break and then the dog comes back good.

“He had a shoulder injury after his last run at Warrnambool (August 10), and I wasn’t thinking that much about the Healesville Cup. Then all of a sudden I saw on the Internet the heats were coming up and I thought I’ve got to have a crack at it.”

While Selkrig hasn’t yet crossed the Healesville Cup off his bucket list, the affable Devon Meadows trainer is no stranger to feature race success at his favourite venue.

Most notably, his brilliant straight tracker Peter Galo broke the 350m record when winning the inaugural National Straight Track Championship in 2019 in 18.65sec.

Peter Galo winning the 2019 National Straight Track Championship in a then track record 18.65sec 📷 Clint Anderson

Peter Galo, which notched up 24 of his 47 career victories at Healesville, was also the fastest qualifier for the 2017 Cup Final after an 18.88sec heat win at just his sixth start.

“Peter Galo went the fastest of the heats when he was only 18 months old,” Selkrig recalled.

“But he drew box three in the final and the four came straight across and put him out of contention.

“He broke the Healesville record when he won the National Straight Track Championship – that was from box five, which Deadly Rookie has on Sunday – and then Unleash Collinda only broke his record by one hundredth (18.64sec).

“Peter Galo was a freak. He would go straight past Deadly Rookie and give him windburn!”