Grafterburners takes out the rich QTIS Jewel 2YO at the Gold Coast
A patient Cejay Graham ride was the catalyst for Grafterburners to justify his favouritism and take out the QTIS Jewel 2YO on the Gold Coast on Saturday night.
Get to the chopper.
Like Arnie Schwarzenegger’s famous line in ‘the Predator’ film, it sure worked for jockey Cejay Graham and trainer Kelly Schweida as they combined to take out the $500,000 2YO Jewel (1200m) with Grafterburners on the Gold Coast on Saturday night.
Graham charged to the line aboard the talented colt to storm ahead of the Kevin Kemp-trained Pink Vixen and Liam Birchley’s Betterlucknexttime in the rescheduled twilight meeting on the Glitter Strip.
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Graham and Schweida were part of a group of jockeys and trainers who were transported from Brisbane to Gold Coast on a bumper day of racing in southeast Queensland, with 11 races at Eagle Farm and ten at the Gold Coast.
It came just two weeks after Schweida’s horse El Morzillo won the $1m Inglis Sprint at Flemington over 1200m.
“It’s worked out pretty good,” Schweida said about flying down by helicopter.
“I’m really pleased for the owners, they’ve had a lot of bad luck with some of their horses.
“The barriers came out (15) and we thought ‘here we go again’ but Cejay just kept him balanced.
“He (Grafterburners) had the right form line as long as he got a chance to show it. It worked out pretty well.
“I’m really stoked for the owners. They’re good winners, but they’re also good losers.”
Graham is flying high - both on the racetrack and in the air.
The victory comes just three weeks after she rode four winners at Doomben to equal her best ever haul at a city meeting.
“To be honest, the way he travelled throughout the race, I was always confident,” she said.
“I was worried that I was wide coming to that first corner.
“But I was happy that I was able to cross those ones underneath me that I didn’t particularly want to be following and once I got myself into that three-deep line and I was able to get a little bit of cover from the horse in front of me.
“The way he travelled from the 800 and at the top of the straight, I was confident that they were going to have to be very good to overcome him.
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“I think he toyed with them because once he got there he still had a bit of a look around.
“This is the best two-year-old I’ve ridden by far and I have to be thankful to Kelly for sticking with me today. It is a big opportunity.”
It was also lucky for Brisbane’s premier trainer Tony Gollan that he caught a helicopter from Brisbane to the Gold Coast on Saturday afternoon or else he would have missed his high-flying mare Liquor win the $125,000 Military Rose (1100m) at $10, with Angela Jones on board.
Five-year-old Liquor edged out the well-backed Rockhampton rocket Chinny Boom, with Sebring Girl third, for her ninth win from 16 starts.
Originally published as Grafterburners takes out the rich QTIS Jewel 2YO at the Gold Coast
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