Harry Coffey: From beach race to $3m Gold Coast Magic Millions
Harry Coffey has ridden horses at the iconic Gold Coast Magic Millions barrier draw event on Surfers Paradise beach, but this will be the first time he rides on the mega-rich race day.
Horse Racing
Don't miss out on the headlines from Horse Racing. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Victorian jockey Harry Coffey quips he has ridden at the Gold Coast Magic Millions carnival before – but only on Surfers Paradise beach during the iconic barrier draw event.
Group 1 winning jockey Coffey will ride on the mega-rich day on Saturday week for the first time, getting a sighter on the Gold Coast track when he rides there this Saturday.
Coffey will partner Tony and Calvin McEvoy-trained two-year-old filly Arabian Summer on both Saturdays.
• ‘I want to win the Straddy before I cark it': Mishani owner reveals new direction
Following the blueprint set by the McEvoy champion Sunlight in 2018, Arabian Summer will be deployed on the seven-day back-up into the $3m 2YO Classic after racing this Saturday in the Gold Pearl over 1200m for 2YO fillies.
Arabian Summer is already safely in the 2YO Classic field, number two in the ballot order after scoring the Ballarat 2YO Classic on December 9 where she beat last Saturday’s impressive Godolphin Sydney winner Parkour by three and a half lengths.
Coffey, who has never won a race in Queensland where he has only ever had seven previous rides, can’t wait to get involved.
“I went up there once and did a guest speaking function and did the Magic Millions beach race once, but I’ve never ridden at Magic Millions,” Coffey said.
“Racing this Saturday not only means the horse gets to have a look at the track but it also gives me a look at the track, so it will hold us both in good stead.
“I think this filly is bombproof and she can race well in any track conditions.
“You are always worried that two-year-old horses are going to go off the boil, but she has just really thrived and she loves doing her trackwork and loves racing.
“Parkour looks a nice horse, things probably didn’t suit it at Ballarat like it suited ours, but we still won convincingly.
“I really do think Arabian Summer brings the right sort of form lines.”
• ‘We are humans, my heart bleeds': Williams extends hand to Khawaja
Coffey and his wife Tayla delivered their first child last year and their now seven-month-old boy Thomas has just celebrated his first Christmas.
The family has packed their bags for the Gold Coast where the jockey will have a steely focus on winning the $3m Classic with Arabian Summer.
He is also set to have other rides for the McEvoys on Magic Millions day, including filly Sunset Dreaming in the $3m 3YO Guineas.
It is well known that Coffey lives with cystic fibrosis, having to defy the odds his entire career to prove he is capable of riding at the elite level.
In recent times, a new gene-modifying drug called Trikafta – which tricks Coffey’s body into thinking it has a gene that he is missing – has changed the jockey’s life for the better.
“It has made my quality of life so much better,” Coffey said.
“My body doesn’t have to work as hard and I don’t have to visit hospital regularly to maintain where I am at.
“It has just made everything easier.
“My riding has got better, I have got more energy to do things.
“The drug works by tricking my body into thinking I am not as bad as what I am.
“My body is working at a lot better efficiency and it is now doing things that it is supposed to do.”
Arabian Summer, a $220,000 buy as a yearling, races for a syndicate that includes her breeder, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum.
The filly is currently on the fifth line of Gold Coast Magic Millions 2YO Classic betting at $11.
Originally published as Harry Coffey: From beach race to $3m Gold Coast Magic Millions
Ottobre gives Jenni’s Cox Plate lead-up wish
Ciaron Maher has plenty of options with star mare Pride Of Jenni but owner Tony Ottobre has given his preference for her last lead-up run before the Cox Plate.
Kensington preview: Zouatica out to find Big Dance rhythm
A win on the Kensington can propel Zouatica towards the Five Diamonds Prelude on the path to the Big Dance just as it did for his stablemate Super Helpful last year.