Officials in short supply after Millions washout

Saturday showed you can’t beat Mother Nature with the Gold Coast called off after persistent light rain and Murray Bridge stopped because of tumbleweeds.

The Magic Millions meeting will move to Thursday after a wet area on the track made it unsafe. The Gold Coast track was preparing for a reconstruction, which starts next week, and the last meeting on the track was always going to be problematic.

The first signs the meeting was in danger came on Saturday morning when the rail had to be moved out on the home turn after a sprinkler had malfunctioned. The rail probably needed to go out a couple of more metres but couldn’t because it would have meant the Magic Millions Classic field would have had to be reduced.

Jamie Kah came back after winning the first race and said “it’s very soft and like glue on the fence on the home turn”. She was proven right when the meeting only lasted one more race.

The preferred option was for the meeting to be run on Sunday, but the track wasn’t going to improve in time. The blame game began in earnest, with one leading Magic Millions official telling people “it’s not my fault.”

In the end, Racing Queensland chief executive Brendan Parnell stood up and made the announcement with Gold Coast Turf Club boss Steve Lines by his side. There was no one from the Queensland government, which had delayed funding for the track redevelopment for years, nor Magic Millions in sight.

Trainers were happy to move to Thursday, but it means they have to hold their horses together for another week. Paul Snowden’s team of six runners galloped on Sunday morning including Classic favourites Empire Of Japan and Sovereign Fund, Guineas favourite Russian Conquest and Snippets top pick King Of Sparta.

“They had to have a gallop to be right for Thursday. It gives us a chance to make sure they will be at their peak,” Snowden said. “We have the option of having another gallop on Tuesday, but they are all well and ready to go now.”

Racing officials meet on the Gold Coast

While the racing didn’t get very far at the Gold Coast on Saturday, the Magic Millions always provides a meeting place for racing officials from around the country.

While Australian Turf Club racing manager James Ross was among the guests of the TAB, the most interesting table was hosted by Racing Queensland and Ladbrokes.

It included Racing Victoria boss Andrew Jones and his deputy Aaron Morrison, Racing SA’s new chief executive Vaughn Lynch and a high-ranking Tasracing official, as well as Racing.com and Country Racing Victoria executives.

Magic mark broken 20 times

The top end of the Australian yearling market looks strong after 20 million-dollar babies were sold at the Magic Millions sales last week.

The final night was topped by an I Am Invincible half-brother to Magic Millions favourite Empire of Japan sold to Kia Ora Stud for $1.8 million.

“You’re always ‘innocent until proven guilty’ and Empire Of Japan is still a hype horse and it looks like he has a big year and career ahead of him,” Kia Ora’s Shane Wright said.

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“We definitely had [a Magic Millions win] in calculations, but you always just look at a horse on what you value them and we were a little bit over what we were hoping to be, but with the good ones you have to spend it.”

Berry awaits fate after long inquiry

The Tommy Berry inquiry will finally be in the public domain on Tuesday after months of investigation and interviews behind closed doors.

The main charge of the five Berry faces is taking a consideration from punter Zaid Miller, who is also facing charges at the inquiry, after allegedly providing tips to him.

Berry has maintained his innocence and is expected to plead not guilty. If he is found guilty, Berry will face a suspension or disqualification that he will almost certainly appeal. Under the rules, a disqualification for Berry would take immediate effect.

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