Rain wipes out Gold Coast Magic Millions meeting with remaining races to be run under lights

A drama-filled week for the Gold Coast track ended with a heavy deluge wiping out the rich Magic Millions meeting as officials find a night-time solution.

Gold Coast will stage the remaining Magic Millions races under lights on Friday night after rain washed out the meeting on Saturday.

- with Ben Dorries

The rich meeting that was made to be run under lights will finally get its chance to sparkle after the Gold Coast Magic Millions was wiped out for the second time in three years due to wild weather.

Saturday’s super rich Magic Millions meeting was called off after three races when the Gold Coast track was hammered by 41mm of rain on race day, with officials making the move to run the remaining seven races under lights next Friday night instead.

The Gold Coast Turf Club recently underwent a $62m redevelopment, which included the installation of lights, and the lights will be called on for a huge meeting just months after their completion.

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Organisers will throw open the gates on Friday night in order to attract a bumper crowd for the meeting.

One complaint with Magic Millions over the years is that it has often been raced in scorching hot afternoon weather but there will be no such issues at night.

“I think the Magic Millions under lights will be a great spectacle for everybody,” Gold Coast Turf Club chief executive Steve Lines said.

“We want to get people back here through the gates on Friday night, it will be the first Magic Millions under lights, there we go.

“We are just working through things, we will probably open up the gates to free entry, that’s where my headspace is at the moment.”

Listen to Chief steward Josh Adams - magic millions day OFF and rescheduled to next Friday night @RacenetTweetspic.twitter.com/QUoksPIxUN

— Ben Dorries (@bendorries76) January 11, 2025

In a drama-filled week, a new section of turf at the 500m mark was the most scrutinised section of grass in Australia, however it proved to be the least of the worries after the rain rolled in after the third race.

Stewards said significant surface water affected sections of the track, with the call eventually made to postpone the meeting.

“We had to make the unfortunate decision to postpone the races until Friday night,” chief steward Josh Adams said.

“We were hoping the weather band sitting over the Gold Coast may have dissipated, however there is surface water throughout the track and we think it is the right decision to postpone until Friday.

“It gives this track an opportunity to dry out and we think the track will be suitable.

“It wasn’t the patch of turf at the 500m that tipped us over the edge, it was the surface water throughout the track, it just wouldn’t run off.”

Racegoers leave the Gold Coast Turf Club after the Magic Millions race day was postponed. Picture: Richard Walker

After the 2023 Magic Millions was postponed from Saturday to Thursday when a “rogue sprinkler” affected a section of the track, organisers opted for Friday night this time.

“If you move it to a Saturday, it becomes an issue for the jockeys who had prior engagements around the country,” Racing Queensland chief executive Jason Scott said.

“It gives Magic Millions a chance to build the brand on TV, if you were looking purely at dollars, you would probably move it to Saturday, but there are bigger things at play here.

“We all think Friday night fits in better.”

In a blackout day for racing in southeast Queensland, the Eagle Farm meeting was also abandoned after 140mm of rain smashed Brisbane.

Contingencies were in place at one stage in the lead-up to move the Gold Coast Magic Millions to Eagle Farm, but in the end it wouldn’t have mattered either way.

Originally published as Rain wipes out Gold Coast Magic Millions meeting with remaining races to be run under lights