Southern influx for Millions
QUEENSLAND’S long-awaited border opening on Monday is set to see a southern invasion of horses from New South Wales and Victoria aimed at the lucrative Magic Millions after a quiet start to the summer carnival.
Air Horse Transport boss Chris Calthorpe says he has been contacted by a number of Victorian trainers who are keen to get their horses up to Queensland to race as soon as possible.
After jumping through countless hoops and fighting limited plane availability for the past two years, Calthorpe says the border opening offers certainty to connections.
“There are planes now so we want to start getting people and horses up there,” he said.
“Everything being equal, we should be right. We have a flight on the 21st (December) and there is one every Tuesday after that.
“Hopefully we can get some certainty with the border because there as been plenty of interest for the Magic Millions.
“There has been a lot of interest, it is also people are just looking to get away, they can take their horse up and have a bit of a holiday.”
Under Queensland Government laws, any person coming up from another state will need to be full vaccinated to enter the state, as has been the case for both New South Wales and Victorian racing participants for months.
Calthorpe said he had been booked to fly the Will Clarkentrained Beau Rossa up last week but was stopped at the last minute by Queensland’s sudden closure to South Australia.
“I was supposed to take Beau Rossa up last week but then they changed their mind and wouldn’t let South Australians in,” Calthorpe said.
As of Monday, that will change with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk deciding to open up several days earlier due to a strong vaccination rate.
Clarken has indicated he is keen to get his gelding into Queensland to race on Boxing Day at Doomben in what is expected to be a bumper day of racing with trainer Ciaron Maher setting hot Magic Millions favourite Coolangatta for the Group 3 BJ McLachlan (1200m) on the same day.