2025 Doomben Cup: Jockey Cejay Graham to ride Miss Joelene for trainer Kelly Schweida

News.com.au

19-05-2025

Rejuvenated jockey Cejay Graham joked that she would have to be 'carried' to the weigh-in if she could win this week's $1 million Group 1 Doomben Cup (2000m) on 50-1 shot Miss Joelene in just her second attempt at Group 1 glory.
A 10-day suspension has seen Graham out of action since a wet and wild Hollindale Stakes Day on the Gold Coast on May 10.
On that day she rode Miss Joelene to an admirable fourth place behind star trio Antino, Fawkner Park and Kovalica in the Group 2 Hollindale Stakes (1800m).
And despite Brisbane trainer Kelly Schweida having an array of top jockeys from down south to choose from, he and Miss Joelene's owner Darren Wilson have kept their faith in Graham to ride the four-year-old mare in the Doomben Cup.
It will be Graham's second crack at a major after she rode the Gary Portelli -trained gelding Kintyre to ninth in last year's $1.5m Epsom Handicap (1600m) at Randwick.
'I'm still a freshie at it,' Graham said about her Group 1 experience.
'It'll be fantastic to ride in one up here in Queensland and even better to get that opportunity for Kelly.
'I had hoped that I'd be able to stick with her throughout her preparation because I knew she was aiming towards that sort of line (Doomben Cup).'
Asked what it would mean to win a Group 1 for her biggest supporter Schweida, who has two majors under his belt, Graham said: 'I think I'd have to get carried back in. I'd be very emotional, purely because of Kelly.
'I don't think you could make a Group 1 extra special but I reckon that would do it.'
Queensland star Antino ($3.50) and daring frontrunner Pride Of Jenni ($4) head the Doomben Cup market but Miss Joelene ($51) proved in the Hollindale Stakes – albeit on a heavy track – that she was more than capable of springing an upset.
Antino wins the TAB Hollindale Stakes in dominant fashion! ðŸ'Š @tonygollan pic.twitter.com/MMTxA1UANY
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 10, 2025
• 'Her best is good enough to beat anyone': Is Pride Of Jenni the horse to end Craig Newitt's Group 1 drought?
'She ran an absolute cracker on that bottomless track at the Gold Coast the other day so I don't think she could be going any better heading into the Doomben Cup,' Graham said.
'It's a very exciting time. I said to Darren (Wilson) 'I based my suspension around her' and he said 'No you didn't'. I said 'no I did, I'm telling you, she is what I'm most looking forward to'.'
Graham is hoping for a track in the soft range at Doomben on Saturday and given the weather forecast of showers this week in Brisbane, she may well get her wish.
Plenty of roughies have saluted at massive odds already this winter carnival and Graham isn't too fazed about Miss Joelene's $51 odds for the Doomben Cup, especially given the mare's superb record on soft ground (6:3-1-1).
'With the way the tracks might be, you just never know,' she said.
'One thing about her, she didn't love the track the other day (at the Gold Coast) but she still performs well on any surface and I think that extra distance will be right up her alley.'