NIGHT VISION
Magic Millions tipped to move under lights within two years
QUEENSLAND’s richest race day is ready to seize the night.
Scorching temperatures for the $10 million Magic Millions race meeting at the Gold Coast Turf Club on Saturday prompted calls for the event to be pushed back to the evening.
Tony McEvoy, trainer of the $2 million 2YO Classic winner Sunlight (above), said it would appease connections and punters.
Magic Millions co-owner Gerry Harvey said he was open to the idea, while turf club chairman Brett Cook said it was only a matter of time and could happen “within two years”.
THE $10 million Magic Millions race meeting could be shifted to the night within two years.
Moments after winning the $2 million 2YO Classic with Sunlight on Saturday in scorching 36 degree heat at the Gold Coast Turf Club, trainer Tony McEvoy appealed to Magic Millions co-owner Gerry Harvey to make the event a night meeting to appease connections and punters.
Harvey said he was open to the idea that would revolutionise the event that was Australia’s richest race day until the introduction of The Everest in 2017.
“We thank (McEvoy) for his valuable contribution to training horses and we will consider his idea,” Mr Harvey said.
“The more horses he buys at the sales the more say he will get.”
Gold Coast Turf Club chairman Brett Cook says it was a matter of when, not if, it happened.
“It will eventually be a night meeting that could start about 3pm,” Cook said.
“It’s definitely on the cards. Racing Queensland supports night racing on the Gold Coast and with the oppressive conditions over the last couple of years there is no reason why we can’t have the Magic Millions racing on Saturday under lights within two years.”
Cook said Racing Queensland had already given the green light to the project and is expected to lodge their application for the work within the next month after completing final costings.
Once approved, Cook said the construction of the $6 million project would take between four and six months to complete.
It is part of a decade-long master plan the turf club announced last year after securing Aquis Australia as namingrights sponsor for three years.
The revamp will also include a hotel, residential property, track upgrades that include a synthetic polytrack and redevelopment of the “Dome” venue, betting ring and carpark.
Cook said patrons, trainers and the horses would all benefit from shifting the Magic Millions, held in the middle of summer, to the evening.
“The main thing would be for the comfort of the patrons,” Cook said. “Starting a little later takes some of the heat out of it so the public can come and enjoy the day without getting that midday heat. It will be better for the horses as well.”
AS they say at Wimbledon, quiet please ... play.
It is unfortunate controversial tennis star Bernard Tomic couldn’t bite his tongue yesterday after falling just short in his bid to win through qualifying into the Australian Open main draw.
The cacophony of online hate he is copping for his post-match verbal brain fade overshadows promising signs from him this week. He showed plenty of grit iin his three-set win in the second round. He did so again in yesterday’s third and final qualifying round loss.
The fact he is back on court, pumping his fist and showing fight is a monumental and welcome contrast to the limp and “bored” burnout who capitulated meekly in Wimbledon’s first round last year.
Yesterday he lost 6-1 6-7 6-4 to a littleknown Italian outside the top 200. But not before Tomic sensationally saved two match points, having fought his way back into the match he got close to winning, which looked unlikely in the first set.
Tomic, 25, had refused to say anything after his first two qualifying wins but he couldn’t keep a lid on his frustration after the loss, lashing out at a media scrum of journalists with “I just count money, that’s all I do — I count my millions”.
It has been clear for some time Tomic has long given up worrying about his public profile — in a recent interview he revealed he deliberately dished out incendiary oneliners knowing it would “p--- people off”.
It is unlikely this will be the last time he says something daft with little thought for the consequences.
But hopefully he continues to apply himself on court as he appears to have been doing lately.
As ex-Australian Open tournament director Paul McNamee noted: “Talk’s cheap, the jury is out for Bernie. It’s going to be walking the walk, not talking about it.”