Latest news with #KellySchweida
News.com.au
6 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
2025 BRC Sires' Produce Stakes: Trainer Kelly Schweida wary of tough last run for Grafterburners
Trainer Kelly Schweida 's biggest concern for his rising star Grafterburners in Saturday's $1m BRC Sires' Produce Stakes at Eagle Farm is how much fuel is left in the tank after the colt's last gut-busting run across the road at Doomben. Grafterburners produced an eye-catching charge from out wide on a heavy track in the Group 2 Spirit of Boom Classic (1200m) two weeks ago to finish third behind Cool Archie and Gallo Nero, who is the $4.20 favourite for the Sires' Produce (1400m). Schweida also has exciting grey filly El Morzillo running in Saturday's Fred Best Classic (1400m), which offers the winner a golden ticket to the prestigious $3m Stradbroke Handicap in two weeks' time. Grafterburners is currently third in the betting market for the Sires' Produce for juveniles, behind the Hawkes Team's Gallo Nero and Michael Freedman 's undefeated gelding Aerodrome ($6.50). The Chris and Corey Munce -trained Cool Archie is listed as a $12 chance following his Spirit of Boom Classic victory, his third win in a row. Grafterburners will need another tremendous effort from barrier 16 on Saturday when the Eagle Farm track is almost certain to be worse than its current Soft 5 grading, with showers forecast in Brisbane on Friday and on race day. Another winner for @munceracing, with Cool Archie getting the nose down in the Spirit Of Boom Classic! — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 17, 2025 'That run was super,' Schweida said of the ride two weeks ago from Jason Collett, who will again be on-board for the Sires' Produce after Blake Shinn this week was ruled out of the rest of the winter carnival with a foot injury. 'The only trouble is that you don't know how much that takes out of them. 'It doesn't appear to have. He's worked good, his blood's good and he looks good. But he had a hard run the other day, four-deep. 'It's a strong Sires', as good as I've seen for a while.' Collett will ride El Morzillo in the Fred Best Classic after steering the filly to a last-start win in a 1350m race for three-year-olds on Doomben 10,000 day two weeks ago. The winner of more than $1m in prizemoney has firmed from $16 to $11 in the $300,000 Group 3 race, with the Chris Waller -trained Angela Capital the $3 favourite ahead of Media World ($7.50) and Just Party ($8). 'She's got an awkward gate too (11) but she bounced back super from that run the other day,' Schweida said. 'She looks good and she's got the same jockey on.' If El Morzillo wins the Fred Best Classic to gain guaranteed entry into the Stradbroke Handicap, she will carry just 49.5kg in the 1400m blue-riband race on June 14.
News.com.au
24-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
2025 JJ Atkins on horizon for Sunrays as betting plunge pays off in Bill Carter Stakes at Doomben
Sunrays does not hold a Group 1 JJ Atkins nomination but connections will consider paying a late entry fee after the filly was the subject of a betting plunge to score in arrogant fashion at Doomben. Kelly Schweida 's two-year-old filly was backed from $2.45 to $1.80 in the Listed Bill Carter Stakes (1350m) and backers rarely raised a sweat as Tommy Berry smoked his pipe on the filly who blew away her rivals in the straight. It made it four wins from five starts for the filly who is owned by Queenslander Peter Moran. The filly races in the same colours as Staging, who finished second in the 1998 Doomben 10,000 won by Chief De Beers. Staging was the mother of gallopers such as Duporth, Excites and Tickets and further down the family tree Sunrays is now staking her claim as a highly promising two-year-old. Not only was it a valuable Stakes victory for Sunrays at Doomben, but it also got Schweida and Moran thinking about potentially paying a late fee to race in the JJ Atkins next month. There seems little chance Sunrays will back up in next Saturday's Group 2 BRC Sires' Produce Stakes, but she would surely be a strong contender for the JJ Atkins if connections decided to go that way. SUNRAYS shines brightest in the Bill Carter Stakes, storming home to cap a training double for @schweidaracing! 🌟ðŸ�† #QLDisRacing — RaceQ (@RaceQLD) May 24, 2025 'I'll talk to the owner about whether we pay a late fee for the JJ Atkins,' Schweida said. 'She was arrogant, really, at the finish today. 'She got back a bit further than we thought she might, but she looked like she was smoking and you know that she was going to be strong late. 'Tommy Berry looked like he had them covered on the corner.' Whatever Schweida decides to do with Sunrays, Berry predicted she has a big future. 'She still had a bit of a star gaze when she got to the front so she's got more improvement to come,' Berry said. 'She is a bombproof sort of filly and she is very adaptable and put them to the sword quite quickly.' There were few excuses among the beaten brigade although Chris Waller 's filly Chatterley ran well to finish runner-up at just her second race start.
News.com.au
19-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
2025 Doomben Cup: Jockey Cejay Graham to ride Miss Joelene for trainer Kelly Schweida
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 — 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.'
News.com.au
16-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Schweida struggling to line up the form in Group 2 Spirit of Boom Classic at Doomben
Brisbane trainer Kelly Schweida is an astute reader of form but even he's battling to read the tea leaves for the Group 2 Spirit of Boom Classic at Doomben on Saturday. Schweida has $9.50 chance Grafterburners in the $300,000 race for two-year-olds over 1200m, with the Team Hawkes-trained Gallo Nero the $4.40 favourite. With the mixture of southern raiders and locals in the 17-horse field, combined with the flighty nature of juveniles, it could be anyone's guess who comes out on top in the Spirit of Boom Classic. Grafterburners has won two of his five races, including an impressive last-start victory two months ago in the $500,000 QTIS Jewel 2YO (1200m) on the Gold Coast. Before that he placed fourth in the $2m Inglis Millennium (1100m) at Randwick behind Rivellino and Within the Law, which went on to finish runner-up to Nepotism in last month's Group 1 Champagne Stakes (1600m) at the same track. 'It's all different form when you go through there,' Schweida said. 'Magic Millions form is different to that, there's Kindergarten (Stakes) form. 'It's all very hard to line up. It's nearly impossible when I do the form and I do a lot of form.' With regular rider Cejay Graham suspended, Schweida has turned to Sydney jockey Jason Collett to steer Grafterburners on Saturday. 'He's got a bit of an awkward gate (11) and who knows what the track is going to be like,' Schweida said of his star colt,' Schweida said. 'I'll be shocked if the track's not a Heavy 9. It's a Soft 7 now (Friday morning) and the forecast is for more rain. 'Some of those two-year-old horses have jumped out of the woodwork. 'It's a pretty handy field. The favourite (Gallo Nero) ran third in the Magic Millions (2YO Classic), you've got Chris Waller's horses (United States and Kilman). It's a pretty hot race.' Grafterburners is nominated for the $1m Group 2 Sires' Produce Stakes (1400m) on May 31 and the Group 1 JJ Atkins (1600m) on June 14, two of the richest juvenile races in Australia, at Eagle Farm. 'It's trial and error. You'd think he can get to 1400m and a mile but you don't really know until you get there,' Schweida said. The trainer continues to be astounded by the strength of this year's Queensland winter carnival, pointing to his talented mare Miss Joelene being $4.40 in the Listed Brisbane Handicap (1600m) late last month before her odds skyrocketed for the Group 2 Hollindale Stakes (1800m) on the Gold Coast. 'Miss Joelene was in a Listed race the other day and she was the $4.40 second favourite,' he said. 'Two weeks later she's $34 in the Hollindale (where she finished fourth on a heavy track). 'You think you've got some pretty good horses until the opposition comes.'
News.com.au
08-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Eagle Farm trainer Kelly Schweida has exciting trio at Gold Coast but wary of interstate rivals
Kelly Schweida will deploy a trio of talented horses in different age brackets in Group races on Hollindale Stakes day but concedes he is worried about the interstate invasion. The Group 1-winning horseman has unbeaten two-year-old filly Sunrays (Group 3 Ken Russell Memorial Classic), exciting three-year-old Hella Fast (Group 3 Gold Coast Guineas) and in-form four-year-old Miss Joelene (Group 2 Hollindale Stakes) on the Gold Coast on Saturday. • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. All have drawn double-digit barriers but that may not necessarily be a disadvantage if the Gold Coast track chops up, with rain potentially on the way Friday and Saturday. Wily Eagle Farm trainer Schweida knows what it takes to fire on home soil when the big boys come to Queensland, having scored hometown Group 1s with Miss Cover Girl and Nova Star. But even though he is sure his trio of Group horses are a talented bunch, he admits he is worried about the interstate force. 'These are some good horses of mine, but how good are they when the (southern) opposition arrives on Saturday?' Schweida said. 'These horses from interstate, they just seem to be jumping out of the woodwork. 'These horses of mine all look good when they are racing at their local level in Queensland. 'But all of a sudden you look at some of the nominations for winter carnival features and you think some of these horses are bloody strong, they are jumping out of trees. 'There seems to be a carnival on every 10 minutes. 'As for the barriers for my horses on Saturday, I really don't like bad barriers. 'Sometimes, people say it is good to be out there if the track plays a certain way. 'But all the other horses who draw inside, they want to get out there too so that pushes you even wider. 'Those trainers and jockeys have the same theory to get off the fence.' Betting markets have two-year-old Sunrays the best of Schweida's three Group contenders, with the winner of three from three a well-backed $4.40 chance behind $1.85 Peter Snowden-trained favourite Beadman in the Ken Russell Memorial. Schweida is wary his filly did a lot in her first campaign and has not nominated her for the Group 1 JJ Atkins (1600m) on Stradbroke Handicap day. However Schweida is confident she can make her presence felt on Saturday and also potentially in the Group 2 BRC Sires' Produce Stakes later this month. Hella Fast, a young gelding with untapped ability, is a $23 chance in the Guineas where southern invaders dominate the market. Miss Joelene appears a chance of conjuring a knockout blow in the Hollindale where she is $34 in betting. The four-year-old mare is improving all the time and covered more ground than the early settlers when finishing runner-up over 1600m last start in the Listed Brisbane Mile. She handles all racing surfaces and was impressive when scoring the $500,000 The Wave over 1800m on the Sunshine Coast in January. 'She has probably earned her spot in this race,' Schweida said. 'She handles the Gold Coast track, she can run the trip and she can go well on wet or dry tracks. 'She has got a lot of ticks, it is just if she has the class to contend in a race like this.' Meanwhile, Schweida isn't losing sleep over the performance of potential Stradbroke Handicap contender El Morzillo who resumed last Saturday and was beaten more than six lengths in the Victory Stakes. 'She was a little bit disappointing, but we had to go back from bad gate and they ripped home pretty quickly,' Schweida said of El Morzillo, who won a $1m restricted sprint at Flemington in March.
