Brisbane trainer Kelly Schweida is realising exciting sprinter Grafterburners is at the bottom end of millionaire’s row.
Schweida targeted the Galaxy after Grafterburners smashed the clock, winning the Magic Millions Sunlight in January.
But got a shock when he started to do the form for Saturday’s Group 1 at Rosehill.
“I had a look at the race, and I got down the first two horses [Briasa and Mazu] and they have won $15 million between them,” Schweida said. “I didn’t go any further I was too scared.
“I know Group 1s are hard to win, but this was supposed to be an easier one.
“But he is taking on Everest horses.”
The Galaxy field has more than $30 million in prize money and shows the rewards at the top end of sprinting in Australia.
Grafterburners already has $2 million in the bank, and it’s a number that could skyrocket by the end of the year.
He gets in at the bottom of the handicap with only 50.5kg as he attempts to emulate Private Harry, which completed the Sunlight-Galaxy last year as a three-year-old.
“The Galaxy has always been a good test, but I didn’t think the field would be this good,” Schweida continued. “He is a damn good horse but he will have to be to win on the weekend.
“I had really thought about what he could earn until now.”
Grafterburners has won six of 12 starts, but is unbeaten as a three-year-old and shocked Schweida with the way he has returned to racing.
He was a couple of lengths off the better two-year-olds in the Queensland running sixth in Cool Archie’s JJ Atkins, but it was the way that he came in three-year-old handicap last year that was a surprise.
“He didn’t have that speed as a two-year-old but first-up he came out running and didn’t stop,” Schweida said. “It is a handy asset to have.
”We stretched him over a trip to help him get into races and now he puts himself there. He is a different horse.”
It meant that Grafterburners camped near the lead where he won the Winning Rupert Stakes and Gold Edition Stakes before the Sunlight victory.
“He has become a real sprinter, which isn’t a bad thing to be these days,” Schweida said. “He hasn’t raced for two months, and his form has just got better.
“He beat Ninja and Savvy Hallie and Nashville Jack and he was still learning the game.
”He still had a tendency to switch off if the jockey switches off, but he will get better at with time.”
Schweida admits to be worried about the preparation for the Galaxy, which has gone smoothly in the past couple of weeks. He tried a crucial barrier trial last week, but a good gallop before heading to Sydney eased Schweida’s fears.
“Instead of trial, he went to Doomben and had a good spin around. When you have a horse like him, you start second-guessing,” Schweida said. “We find out if it was the right thing on Saturday.”
