| Kelly Schweida’s rollercoaster weekend had a happy ending on Saturday night when his talented mare Miss Joelene held on for a gritty win in the $500,000 TAB Magic Millions Wave (1800m) at the Sunshine Coast. |
| The Brisbane trainer was forced to scramble at the eleventh hour to get his team of horses to the Sunshine Coast after the feature meeting was moved from the Gold Coast and he also had to ride the jockey merry-go-round when several big name riders were stood down due to injuries sustained in earlier races. In the case of Miss Joelene, Damian Lane was the beneficiary of Tommy Berry (ill) and James Orman’s (injured) misfortune. But even with the star rider aboard the four-year-old, Schweida feared her chances dashed when she was caught three wide from the outside barrier. But Miss Joelene ($4.20) rallied over the final 200m to edge out Encoder ($26), Brookhaven ($18) and Arts Object ($16), all who finished within a length of the winner, A $20,000 purchase by Schweida out of the Kenmore Lodge draft at the 2022 Magic Millions National Yearling Sale, the daughter of Russian Revolution has been a pin-up for the stable, winning four races and running third in G1 Queensland Oaks (2200m) in 2024. Saturday’s win in the TAB Magic Millions Wave advanced the mare’s prizemoney earnings beyond $627,000. “It’s been a long 24 hours as everyone knows,” Schweida said. “I thought we were in trouble. “Damian wanted to go forward but I said ‘Damian, for Christ’s sake go back and it’ll be my fault if you get beat’ and then he was caught three wide. “She was tough and she weas too good. “It’s a pity for Jimmy Orman because he would’ve been on her if he was here. “And I’ve had three jockeys go down today – Tommy Berry was supposed to ride this horse, Craig Williams was supposed to ride (El Morzillo) in the big race (The Sunlight) and Nash Rawiller as well so it’s been one of those days. “If this horse had got beat a head, I would’ve just went home and had a stiff drink.” |
