Exciting colt Grafterburners (Graff) emerged as a potential superstar with a slashing victory in $3m Magic Millions Sunlight (1100m) at the Gold Coast on Saturday night.
The Kelly Schweida-trained 3YO jumped well from gate two of 12 in the set weights event and settled behind the leader as a solid pace was set.
While backers of the well-supported $2.25 favourite had some anxious moments as he was blocked for a run early in the straight, jockey James McDonald found an inside line and Grafterburners responded, hauling in the leader and exploding away for a 1.55 length victory in an ultra-slick time of 1.02.22.
The win was Grafterburners’ sixth from 12 starts and his fourth in succession, bringing his career earnings past the $2m mark.
The Canning Downs-bred Grafterburners was bought from the 2024 Inglis Classic Yearling sale by Schweida for just $70,000 and led home an Inglis quinella, with Easter graduate Nashville Jack finishing second.
His dynamic win comes 12 months after an impressive all the way win in the augural running of the same valuable contest of another Inglis Classic Yearling Sale graduate in valuable colt Private Harry (Harry Angel).
Grafterburners continues a rich Inglis tradition for owner Glenn Betts, a former jockey and trainer, and his old friend and main trainer Schweida.
At the Inglis Classic sale of 2023, the pair combined in the $50,000 purchase of El Morzillo (Star Witness) who is now the winner of three races for earnings in excess of $1m, with her career highlight being her victory last March in the $1m Inglis Sprint up the Flemington straight.
Betts was ecstatic after Grafterburners’ Sunlight triumph, which means a combined Classic sale outlay of $120,000 has how yielded two runners for he and Schweida who’ve carried Betts’ familiar silks of orange with a purple cap to earn $3.14m between them.
“It’s pretty exciting, that’s for sure,” Betts said of the Sunlight victory, which Grafterburners earned racing the slot owned by Sydney training giants Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.
“We snoop around trying to buy horses at the right price and give them to Kelly and try to get him to turn them into good horses for us. He’s certainly managed that very well this time.”
Betts, who now runs an international welding supplies company, described himself as “a huge fan” of the Inglis Classic sale.
“We’ll be back this year for sure,” he said. “Since we bought El Morzillo there the year before, you could say we’ve had a pretty good trot out of it.
“Grafterburners has turned out to be a real bargain buy, at $70,000. I don’t know who the underbidder was, but they’re probably not very happy with themselves these days.
“I really liked his pedigree, particularly on the dam’s side. There’s a Golden Slipper winner there (Overreach) and a Blue Diamond winner (Reward For Effort), and we were looking for something that’d go early.
“Kelly checked him over and liked him, the vet checks came up well, we managed to secure him for the right money and the rest is history.
“He’s just a lovely quiet horse with loads of ability.”
McDonald was also delighted with Grafterburners’ victory, saying it was “nice to ride a beautiful colt”.
“He was outstanding,” he said. “Credit to Kelly and his team. They turned him out immaculate. He was presented to win, he drew a good gate and he just put himself in the box seat. He’s a very good horse.”
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Meanwhile, at Flemington, Bjorn Baker’s powerful sprinter Disneck (Trapeze Artist) helped make it a stellar day for Inglis Classic graduates by scoring his first black type victory in the G3 Standish Handicap over 1200m.
Ridden by Daniel Stackhouse, the 5YO gelding tucked into a rearward spot from gate 10 of 11 before being angled into the clear at the 500m mark, hitting the lead at the 200m and shooting away to score by 1.75 lengths.
Bred by Phoenix Thoroughbreds, Disneck was bought by Baker and bloodstock agent Jim Clarke for $200,000 from Gooree Park’s draft at the Classic sale of 2022. He has now recorded eight wins for earnings of almost $850,000.
Second place went to Ciaron Maher-trained mare Extratwo, who was bought at the 2021 Inglis Gold Yearling Sale for $68,000, and has now earned $595,000.
An all-Inglis trifecta was rounded out by Contemporary, who was bought by his trainer Lindsey Smith from the Inglis July (Early) Online Sale last year for $75,000.
