GRAFTERBURNERS LOOKING TO FOLLOW IN PRIVATE HARRY'S FOOTSTEPS AS HE TAKES AIM AT GALAXY GLORY

By Graham Potter | Thursday, March 19, 2026

Last season Private Harry, then trained by Nathan Doyle, successfully took the leap from a win in the rich $3 million Sunlight (a slot race at the Gold Coast) to reap Group 1 glory in the $1 million Group 1 The Galaxy in his next start.

Now, the Kelly Schweida trained Grafterburners will attempt to complete the same lucrative double Private Harry achieved.

Private Harry remained unbeaten with five wins in a row when he took out The Galaxy and, while Grafterburners cannot claim an unbeaten record, he is very much in form, as evidenced by the fact that should he go on to salute in The Galaxy, it would also be a fifth successive win and will extend what has already been a highly impressive … and yes … unbeaten record since he resumed on November 8 in his first run as a three-year-old following a good, four-and-a-half spell away from racing.

Even while Grafterburners was not running up a succession of wins … he won two of his eight starts prior to being rested … the son of Graff showed he had above average ability.

He won the QTIS Two-Year-Old Jewel at the Gold Coast … finished fourth in the $2 million Inglis Millennium at Randwick … and finished third in the Group 2 Champagne Classic at Doomben, coming home less than half-a-length behind Cool Archie, the dominant two-year-old in Queensland at that time.

Grafterburners has lived up to the potential suggested in those runs carrying all before him in his unbeaten run since stepping out as a three-year-old, but Saturday … in Group 1 company … will be something of an acid test for the colt.

At least the Brisbane based runner dodged the visitor’s draw by receiving barrier number eight … fellow Queenslander Pembrey drew barrier nineteen in the Golden Slipper … but, with fourteen runners set to face the starter it means there will be very little room for error.

Highlighting the difficulty of the task Grafterburners will face is the fact that the field is filled with many battle-hardened Group 1 and Group 2 campaigners with ten of Grafterburner’s thirteen rivals having more race experience than the Schweida trained runner.

Weighed against that though, and this is significant, Grafterburners comes into the race on the bottom weight of 50.5kg, meaning that he will carry between 1kg and a massive 8.5kg less than all of his opposition.

If weight can stop trains, a light weight can have a horse flying and that is why Grafterburners is currently The Galaxy favourite at $4.60.

Given what you would think is a friendly barrier and the favourable weight terms, Grafterburners should have every chance to claim a Group 1 victory … and, if he puts his best foot forward, chances are he could be hard to run down.