2025 Stradbroke Handicap: Cejay Graham to ride The Inflictor
Pressure is your friend.
Young jockey Cejay Graham has those words ringing in her ears as she prepares for the 'pinch myself moment' of riding in her first Stradbroke Handicap.
The words were delivered by Graham's mentor, trainer Kelly Schweida, after the young jockey came from Port Macquarie on the New South Wales mid-coast to be Schweida's apprentice in the big smoke in Brisbane a couple of years ago.
And never have they been more fitting as Graham, 26, prepares to ride Queensland fairytale horse The Inflictor in Saturday's $3m Stradbroke at Eagle Farm.
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'The best bit of advice Kelly has given me was that pressure is your friend,' Graham said.
'You've got to absorb the pressure and embrace it.
'That's one thing he said to me that really stuck, because coming from a few knock-backs early in my riding career I wasn't initially too confident with some things and he just said 'don't let the pressure get to you'.
'If you don't have pressure, you probably aren't going really good, are you?
'So when you put it like that, you want the pressure, don't you?
'It is a pretty cool saying that is stuck in my head.'
The Inflictor winning The Gateway at Eagle Farm to collect a golden ticket into the Stradbroke Handicap. Picture: Trackside Photography
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Graham might hail from New South Wales, but she now considers herself as Queensland as the Great Barrier Reef.
And that's just as well because a lot of Queensland will be supporting her – and the remarkable story of The Inflictor and his 60-year-old truck driving hobby trainer Craig Cousins – in the Stradbroke.
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The Inflictor is the home-bred hero who qualified for the Stradbroke by winning the ballot exempt race of The Gateway at Eagle Farm last December.
Graham rode the four-year-old gelding to win that day and a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then.
She is pinching herself that she has a chance to ride him to glory in the Stradbroke, in a race which will be her fourth career Group 1 ride.
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'Craig was pretty adamant he wanted to stick with me straight after The Gateway, so it's great that he has done that and its fantastic to be given the opportunity,' Graham said.
'It's real pinch myself kind of stuff.
'I think there will be a lot of Queenslanders cheering for us on the day.
'I've done a lot of work with him behind the scenes, I definitely know the horse inside and out.
'He is tough when he leads, but he doesn't have to lead.
'I think he's got a great chance.
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'And I've really got to thank Kelly (Schweida) for his support as I wouldn't have got the gig riding up in Brisbane without him.
'And if it wasn't for his continued support coming out of my apprenticeship, I might have struggled a bit.
'He has backed me 100 per cent and I owe him everything.'
Originally published as 'Pressure is your friend': Jockey Cejay Graham's tip to conjure 2025 Stradbroke Handicap fairytale with The Inflictor
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