Schweida's Promising Gelding Demands Respect
6 December 2024
Deep Respect might not be the odds-on favourite for this Saturday’s The Star Gateway, but the promising four-year-old is set for a major rebound.
That’s according to trainer Kelly Schweida.
Accepted to race in a Benchmark 78 at Doomben on 23 November, relentless rain forced the meeting to be rescheduled four days later at the same track.
Much to Schweida’s delight, Deep Respect put in a strong finishing effort to finish fifth after little luck in running.
Deep Respect opened the market for this Saturday’s The Star Stradbroke qualifier at 15-1, but his trainer believes he could be over the odds as one of the field’s top rated runners.
“He ran good the other day. This week I late nominated him when the entries were extended,” said Schweida.
“I always had The Gateway on my radar, but I wanted a 1200m lead in race and there was only the 1110m ten days ago.”
“He never wins by far, but he’s a pretty fit horse and I think he’s well above average, I think he’s the highest rated horse in the race on performances to date.
“Only having the one run over 1110m is my only concern.”
Despite the sudden step up in distance to The Star Gateway’s 1400m Eagle Farm circuit, there’s no queries that Deep Respect can cover the ground.
Over 1400m Deep Respect possesses a record of three wins and a second from six starts.
He also has three wins over 1350m.
On a Good rated track, he’s only finished outside of the money on one occasion.
Given a Heavy 8 rating as recently as Thursday afternoon, the Eagle Farm surface has returned a Soft 6 Friday morning with a strong possibility for an upgrade to a 5 or 4 rating by the time of The Gateway.
Having drawn the middle, barrier 7, Schweida will be leaving race tactics to in-form jockey Kyle Wilson-Taylor.
“I’ll leave tactics up to Kyle. He’s won on him before, it just depends on how he jumps,” Schweida said.
“Some days he jumps better than others, but he’s been getting out of the barriers a lot better recently.
“If he can jump sort of fifth, sixth, seventh, I’d be happy with that.”
When he was a colt, Deep Respect’s barrier marriers were a cause for concern.
Ultimately Schweida recommended a gelding operation to connections.
“That was his biggest problem, he was a bit naughty in the gates when he was a colt,” Schweida admitted.
“We gelded him and since we’ve put the blind fold on behind the barriers he seems really good.
“He had no attitude in the stable. It was just on race day because he was a colt, I think.”
A start in next year’s The Star Stradbroke would be a welcome reward, but Schweida’s immediate attention this preparation is towards a start in the Magic Millions Cup (1400m) on the Gold Coast in the new year.