Kelly Schweida is eyeing a milestone moment at Ipswich this weekend, hoping to equal his best Queensland carnival performance when Metalart steps out in the Listed Eye Liner Stakes (1350m).
With three black type wins already this season, only his 2022 campaign—where he trained four stakes winners—stands ahead in terms of success.
Metalart, a four-year-old gelding, showed plenty of promise when finishing third in the Listed Lightning Handicap (1000m) earlier this month, behind Schweida’s other runner Vodka Martini.
“He’s going good,” Schweida said.
“The races have been a bit higgledy piggledy for him, it (the Lightning) wasn’t his race. A thousand metres, they were hooking (wide).
“He got held up twice, I thought he was probably a little bit stiff not to win.”
Already a winner of seven of his thirteen career starts, Metalart is proven at the Eye Liner distance, though Schweida knows barrier draws at Ipswich can be decisive.
“Ipswich is all about barriers, if you draw sixteen you’re probably three and four wide and run an unlucky fifth or sixth,” Schweida said.
“You can get them all set and ready but come Wednesday if you draw bad, you get that pain in the belly feeling.”
Describing Metalart as one of the most unassuming horses in his stable, Schweida was full of praise for the gelding’s temperament and record.
“He’s incredible. He’s the quietest horse you’d ever wish to see. You could tie him up to a fence, come back a week later and he’d still be there,” Schweida said.
“I think he’s won seven or eight out of about 11 or 12, and he probably should have won two more of those, so he’s been an incredible little horse.
“He’s very unassuming. You go over to the stable, he’d be asleep all day. He’s not like the normal racehorse, but he’s a ripper. I’d like to have a few more like him.”
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