Plans to stage a night meeting on the eve of the Magic Millions have been shelved to ensure the Gold Coast Turf Club’s troubled turf racetrack is given every chance to be at its best for Queensland’s richest day of racing.
To protect the new course proper, the scheduled Friday night on January 10 meeting has been switched to a twilight fixture on January 4 - a week before the $14.5 million Magic Millions raceday.
Turf racing returned to the Gold Coast on Saturday for the first time since March when the Aquis Jewel meeting was heavily criticised for the amount of kickback produced during races.
A subsequent meeting to usher in an era of night racing was abandoned and the GCTC’s Hollindale Stakes card was transferred to the Sunshine Coast.
GCTC chief executive Steve Lines said a careful approach to maintaining the course proper would continue.
“It has certainly been a challenging time for all tracks in southeast Queensland but we are very happy with how the course proper has improved during the cooler months,” he said.
“And we expect it to improve even further as we get into spring and summer.
“... the feedback from riders is that it’s a great uniform surface that is continuing to improve.”
Racing Queensland chief executive Jason Scott said it wasn’t in the industry’s best interests to burden the course proper with too many meetings in the lead-up to the Magic Millions.
“The Magic Millions is the pinnacle of the Queensland summer racing carnival and it’s imperative that we provide certainty to participants and attendees,” he said.
“Having adopted a cautious maintenance programme to the course proper on the Gold Coast, we do not want to overwork the track while it is still establishing itself.
“We ran the risk of doing that by pushing ahead with three meetings in the space of a week."
As a result of the move, the penultimate day of Racing Queensland’s summer carnival will have its prize money boosted from $1.6 million to $6.05 million.
“The Magic Millions is the pinnacle of the Queensland summer racing carnival and it’s imperative that we provide certainty to participants and attendees." - Jason Scott
A new $3 million slot race for three-year-olds called the Magic Millions Sunlight will be the cornerstone of the reshaped meeting.
Additional enhancements will include the scheduling of the $1 million Magic Millions The Syndicate, the $250,000 Magic Millions Maiden Plate (1400m), a $250,000 Sunlight Consolation and a new $250,000 Magic Millions Class 6 Plate (1200m).
On the same card, prize money for The Wave will double to $500,000 and the race will be run exclusively for Magic Millions race series nominated horses in 2025.
However, it will no longer be age-restricted, with the 1800m weight-for-age feature now available to three-year-olds and upwards.
The $14.5 million Gold Coast Magic Millions Raceday on Saturday, January 11 also boasts a raft of enhancements headlined by the Magic Millions Cup doubling in prize money to $2 million.
Bren O’Brien
The Racing Queensland Magic Millions QTIS race will also receive a $500,000 increase to $1.5 million.
While the Magic Millions The Debut races were divided for colts and geldings and fillies this year, the unique $500,000 feature for two-year-olds will be run as an open race for first starters during the Magic Millions Raceday in 2025.
However, a $250,000 edition of Magic Millions The Debut, open to colts, geldings and fillies, will also be programmed at the Gold Coast on Friday, December 20, which is poised to be run as the club’s first night meeting.
“This new schedule for summer is the best outcome for everyone – for participants, horses and punters,” Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch said.
“We fully endorse the objectives of Racing Queensland and the Gold Coast Turf Club to provide surety of a fantastic safe racing surface and support its longevity.
“It’s a complementary program of features that achieves all our objectives. The exciting race additions, prize money increases and a new $3 million slot race under lights.”
