Scaling the heights of The Everest may only be a pipe dream for Grafterburners, but Eagle Farm trainer Kelly Schweida still expects the exciting sprinter to race in Sydney this spring after the gelding trialled well at Deagon last Tuesday.
Grafterburners, an impressive winner of the $3m Sunlight slot race on the Gold Coast in January, was disappointing in two starts in May at the beginning of the Queensland winter carnival in a preparation the trainer admits went on too long.
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“He was in the stables from September until the first of June, nine months with only a week or a couple of days off here and there, so he just really had to have that good break,” Schweida said.
Grafterburners took his Gold Coast form to Sydney in April and finished third in the Arrowfield 3YO Sprint on day two of The Championships but struggled when down the track in the Doomben 10,000 and Fred Best Classic before spelling.
“You can’t go on forever, and those last runs were disappointing, but if you’re not winning, everything’s disappointing, I suppose,” Schweida said.
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Schweida and owner Glenn Betts will soon lock in plans for Grafterburners’ spring campaign, with the Premiere Stakes at Randwick on October 3 a likely starting point before targeting at the $2m Sydney Stakes over 1200m on Everest day two weeks later.
“(Grafterburners is) probably a week behind where I’d like him to be but, you know, the logical plan would be a shot at the Premiere then the Sydney Stakes,” Schweida said.
Schweida reckons the form is stacking up strongly for Grafterburners too, after Tempted – who took out the Arrowfield 3YO Sprint in April – won the Concorde Stakes first-up in Sydney on Saturday.
“I think we ran well behind Tempted in Sydney, and we may have even finished second but just got held up. She’s probably the best sprinter in Australia, I think, anyway.”
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Meanwhile, Lim’s Shavano, a former Singapore and Hong Kong campaigner and new addition to Schweida’s team, nearly caused an upset in Racecourse Village Class 3 Plate (1000m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
Unwanted in betting to start at $41, the three-time Singapore winner was held up until halfway down the straight before powering home late to finish a close second.
“He ran third to Midnight In Tokyo which would have been $1.50 in that race,” Schweida said.
“His trials have been really good and I just couldn’t believe the price, I thought it was crazy.”
“We would have preferred 1200m, but it just didn’t work out right.”
Originally published as Queensland sprinter Grafterburners on track for Sydney spring campaign after strong trial