Guac On targets Summer Carnival

Photos: Darren Winningham and Ipswich Turf Club

By Brodie Nickson

Kelly Schweida had an outstanding season with his two-year-olds and doesn’t look like slowing as some of his untapped speedsters return to racing.

The Brisbane trainer won the $500,000 QTIS Two-Year-Old Jewel with Grafterburners and also produced other talents like Sunrays.

A colt who didn’t reach the same heights as his two stablemates but has all the qualities of a good horse is Guac On.

Brilliantly named out of Avacado, the son of Zousain is a half-brother to grey stablemate El Morzillo.

Schweida paid $110,000 for Guac On, and may have paid less had his siblings not dominated in the weeks leading up to his sale.

Half-sister El Mozillo was Listed placed on debut at Eagle Farm in the Listed Calaway Gal and recorded her maiden black-type win in the $1 million Inglis Sprint at Flemington in March.

Older brother, Steps Ahead, is a three-time winner and $1.3 million earner in Hong Kong.

Schweida only paid $50,000 for El Morzillo at the 2023 Classic Yearling Sale, but had to offer more than double that for Guac On at the 2024 Gold Coast Magic Millions Yearling Sale.

It is mainly the same group of owners in El Morzillo who purchased Guac On.

“[I] bought him at the yearling sale mainly because of El Morzillo,” Schweida said.

“She had run second in a black-type race, so we had to pay a little more than we intended to, but he’s just a nice horse out of a good family.”

Guac On stamped his potential from his first official outing, dominating a Deagon trial by four-lengths and running the fastest 1050m time of the morning.

He went straight to the races and was heavily-backed on debut to starting odds-on over 1100m at Doomben.

It didn’t go to plan as he slipped at the start and worked wide to be beaten over six lengths.

Schweida “thought he would win his first start” but, after the disappointing loss, didn’t have to wait long to break his Maiden.

Guac On went on to lead all-the-way at Doomben at his second start before absorbing pressure outside the lead at Ipswich to record back-to-back wins.

Schweida then tested the colt in the $1 million Magic Millions National 2YO Classic and, despite the loss, was happy with his run.

“We thought he would pop and lead but he didn’t. [He] got back and struck a little bit of interference and got a bit unbalanced. He hit the line,” Schweida said.

Tipped out for a spell following the Magic Millions National 2YO Classic, Guac On has recently returned to work two stones lighter, and ran in a Benchmark 70 Handicap at Doomben earlier this month.

“He has been gelded. He’s a nice, big, lovely horse,” Schweida said.

“He was a bit of a bull at a gate in everything he did but he is settling down.”

Schweida says he will get Guac On ready for some nice races with so many options over the Queensland Summer Racing Carnival.

“He’s now a much nicer horse. A lot bigger than [El Morzillo],” Schweida said.

“She was not a very big filly, grey. I always knew she could run a bit but, this fella, everything he did was 100 miles an hour. He won a jump out by about six one day.

“He just needed to unwind where she was a little bit the other way around. She would get back and get to the line, [but] he just wanted to do everything at 100 mile an hour.”

El Mozillo proved she could extend her brilliance beyond 1200m by winning over 1350m at Doomben during the Queensland Winter Carnival and running fourth in the Group 2 Dane Ripper Stakes.

Now gelded and with improved racing manners, Scweida believes Guac On can extend over further ground like his sister.

“I think he will be much the same pattern as her,” Schweida said.

“If they win you can place them anywhere. He is a Magic Millions horse so you always target some of those races. It depends on his form as to where he goes.

“There is a race on every week if they are good enough.”

El Morzillo won’t be far away from returning also as she enjoyed a deserved break.

“She had to have a good spell,” Schweida said.

“She went to Melbourne in March and was in work two months before that. Came back, got ready for the Queensland Winter Carnival, won a nice race at Doomben and ran well in a lot of other races.

“She needed a minimum six weeks off.

“That is the trouble with a lot of these carnivals. You want to go in everything but [they] need time.

“She has had a good spell and she looks enormous, she is back in pre-training now and hopefully there is some nice races for her around the summer.”

Schweida enjoyed a brilliant season with 59 wins and pocketing over $4.5 million in prize money.

Success with El Morzillo, Miss Joelene and Metalart were consistent performers for the stable, but it is his young crop which has plenty of punters excited.

Grafterburners, Wannabe Brutal, Guac On, Sunrays, First Empire and Metalcraft all headline his untapped three-year-olds for this season.