Gold Coast track gets green light for Magic Millions day: ‘We could have raced today’

One of the most respected stewards in the world says the repair job at the controversial Gold Coast track worked so well, they could have raced the Magic Millions on Thursday if it was required.

One of the most respected stewards in the world says the repair job at the controversial Gold Coast track worked so well, they could have raced the Magic Millions on Thursday if it was required.

After almost a week of mixed messaging and uncertainty, it took less than half an hour for Kim Kelly to give $14.5m meeting the green light on Thursday morning after senior jockeys Vlad Duric, Chad Schofield, Jimmy Orman, Michael Cahill, Andrew Mallyon and Martin Harley tested the new turf.

“We looked at it yesterday (Wednesday) and I was confident that if, at a pinch, the races were on today (Thursday), we could have done it,” Kelly, the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission’s deputy commissioner said.

“The time between Wednesday and Saturday is just a bonus.”

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While officials have managed to dodge a bullet with the track, they are facing a new potential issue, with up to 30mm of rain forecast to fall at the Gold Coast on Saturday’s race day.

The meeting was famously washed out in 2023 with just 14mm of rain overnight, however the new sand-based Gold Coast track is much more resilient to downpours, should they arrive.

With grass guru’s Evergreen Turf replacing the entire affected patch of killed off grass earlier in the week, racing officials are confident the new slab will race consistently with the rest of the course proper.

Horses have just galloped on the Gold Coast track following urgent repair work to fix a section of grass that was poisoned around the 500m mark.

Officials will shortly hear from jockeys who participated in the gallop and will make a decision if the track is suitable to host the… pic.twitter.com/dEKxCeJLTu

— Racenet (@RacenetTweets) January 8, 2025

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“The contractors, Racing Queensland and the club have done a great job in getting the affected area back to where it is now,” Kelly said.

“It was all very positive.

“The rain on Wednesday night could have only helped it, natural irrigation is better than any other irrigation.

“I am very confident, the feedback from the riders was positive, as I expected it would be after looking at the track.

“We are very happy with the outcome so far, there are no issues with the meeting on Saturday at this stage at all.”

The six jockeys who rode on the track on Thursday were not permitted to make public comments about their gallops earlier in the day.

Additional track staff will be on hand to inspect the area at the 500m mark on Saturday after each race.

Originally published as Gold Coast track gets green light for Magic Millions day: ‘We could have raced today’