Steve O’Dea has been building for magical day and reveals how much winning a Magic Millions 2YO Classic would mean to him

Steve O’Dea left Townsville for Brisbane 12 years ago and his success soon drew the attention of a leading syndicate. He has four runners at the Magic Millions in what could his biggest pay day.

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Eagle Farm trainer Steve O’Dea sizes up potentially his biggest pay day at the Gold Coast this weekend, a little more than a decade after leaving Townsville to speculate if he could make the grade in Brisbane.

O’Dea has only had the one Magic Millions 2YO Classic runner previously, that being Candika, who was third to Capitalist in 2016. He rates aspirant Gotta Kiss clearly superior.

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He also has Reckless Choice out to avenge an unlucky defeat on this day last year when he runs in the $250,000 1800m race, Jami Lady in the $1m F&M and Scallopini in the $1m Snippets.

“This is the most runners we’ve had on Millions day. This is the biggest prizemoney day in Queensland racing and it’s good to have what looks on paper four live chances,” O’Dea said.

“You have to have a lot of things go your way … it all starts off with the sales, buying the right horse, developing them properly and having luck on the day, but it’s pretty exciting going into it.

“Being a Queenslander, I’ve always loved two-year-olds, so the Magic Millions and Golden Slippers are the races that excite me the most and to win a Magic Millions would be huge for the stable.”

Training was a natural career path for O’Dea because it was in the blood on both sides of his family.

He spent his formative years honing his skills in stables like Gai Waterhouse, Kevin Moses and closer to home Alan Bailey and Gillian Heinrich.

Steve O’Dea (right) with Proven Thoroughbreds’ Jamie Walter at the Magic Millions sale this week.

He returned to his home of Townsville and took over his father’ Graham’s stables before success with Go Cart and Kiss Me Katy led to an earlier than expected move to Brisbane.

“It’s one of those things. When I initially moved to Brisbane, it wasn’t something that was planned at the time,” he said.

“I had worked in southern stables before and it was something I wanted to get to, but it probably happened a little bit quick when I first got here.”

Go Cart was particularly important. He was a tried horse in Sydney before landing with O’Dea, who was able to win three Listed races in Brisbane with him.

That sparked the attention of Proven Thoroughbreds’ Jamie Walter, who initially raced the horse in Sydney.

“Jamie gave me a call and saw what I had done with Go Cart and wanted to meet me,” O’Dea said.

“He just flew up one afternoon and a few days later he sent a tried horse up.”

It’s a partnership that blossomed over the years. Three of O’Dea’s runners on Saturday – Gotta Kiss, Scallopini and Reckless Choice – race in the Proven colours.

“We bought one filly the first year and we’ve built up from there. This current crop Jamie gave me 16 horses. He’s been huge for the stable,” O’Dea said.

O’Dea rates Gotta Kiss as a top chance in the Magic Millions 2YO Classic. Picture: AAP

Dea’s Eagle Farm stable number’s 46 at the moment, a head count he is comfortable with, but one he wants to keep improving the quality of.

“A lot of people probably don’t believe it, but money can be pretty tight,” he said.

“It’s not like you make a mint out of training and you certainly need to be getting winners. It’s always tough in that respect.

“As much as it’s about training the horses, your mind is always on the finances and the business side of things. That’s one of the harder sides of training. Fortunately things are going really well at the moment.”

O’Dea’s current success has been helped by the appointment of Matt Hoysted as Assistant Trainer and the arrival of Victorian apprentice Steph Thornton, who rides Gotta Kiss.

“Matt came on board when we were involved with Aquis when we were splitting our time between two places. Our working relationship has been good from the word go. He really knows his stuff and is good with clients as well,” O’Dea said.

“Steph has fit in well to the stable and Queensland in general. She’s racked up plenty of winners and certainly seems to suit my horses. She’s patient and has great hands.”

O’DEA ON HIS MAGIC MILLIONS RUNNERS

Gotta Kiss: “I always thought she will be better over 1200m than 1000m. In her trials, she was strong late and through the line. I would like to think she’s a bit better than Candika (who ran third in this race).

Scallopini: “He is better in races with good speed on, letting him settle back and let him really hit the line, so I think he will find that more in the Sprint (1200m) than the Cup (1400m). He’s certainly there with a chance.”

O’Dea has opted to run Scallopini in the Sprint rather than the Cup. Picture: AAP

Jami Lady: “I chopped and changed a couple of times (on which race to run in) because I was done no favours with the draw. Hopefully she has some luck.”

Reckless Choice: “I think he will run (1800m) out strongly and it doesn’t look a race to be a lot of depth in, so hopefully he will avenge his defeat from last year in the Country Cup.”

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