Brisbane Coffey break does trick for Arabian Summer in $1m Magic Millions National 2YO Classic

Victorian jockey Harry Coffey flew in to pull off a coup aboard Queensland specialist Arabian Summer in the $1m Magic Millions National 2YO Classic (1050m) at Doomben on Saturday.

Winners are grinners … Harry Coffey comes back to scale after winning at Doomben aboard Arabian Summer. Picture: Grant Peters / Trackside Photography

Victorian jockey Harry Coffey flew in to pull off a coup aboard Queensland specialist Arabian Summer in the $1m Magic Millions National 2YO Classic (1050m) at Doomben on Saturday in a rich payday for connections.

Coffey had just one ride for the day, but made it a winning one when he put paid to his rivals on the Tony and Calvin McEvoy-trained filly in what was an afterthought as connections eyed off spring riches.

The race was never in the plans for Arabian Summer, who was spelling in Queensland, but became irresistible when the McEvoys saw it on the calendar.

Coffey only rode his first winner in Queensland in January when he won the Aquis Gold Pearl with the same horse and he doubled that total on Saturday.

Up goes ARABIAN SUMMER ☀️

Despite being wide the trip, the filly finishes the strongest to take the inaugural @mmsnippets National 2YO Classic!@[e-mail]/8TW5hVc5dB

— RaceQ (@RaceQLD) May 25, 2024

• ‘Humbled’ Williams secures Ukraine donation with Tiger’s fighting win

“She was very tough today, she’s a real professional and credit to everyone involved with her,” Coffey said.

“They had the faith to leave her up here and that this race would really suit.

“I just turned up this morning on a plane and got the goods.

“It is pretty awesome to be associated with her and I’m really thankful to the connections and also Tony and Calvin for having faith in me and getting me up here to partner her.

Hot favourite Eneeza ($2.30) was never in contention after bungling the start and being left flat footed when the sprint came on in the straight, as roughie King Of Roseau made a race of it taking ground off Arabian Summer late.

The win takes Arabian Summer’s earnings to $950,000 in just seven starts and sets up a bumper spring.

Arabian Summer (yellow cap) proves too strong for her rivals at Doomben on Saturday. Picture: Grant Peters / Trackside Photography

• Sargent taking a Casual look at Brisbane Cup

“She spelled up here,” Calvin McEvoy said.

“Julian Blaxland and Kacy Fogden, they did the pre-training with her. She was about to be booked to come back to Victoria and our racing manager alerted us to the race.

“We would have been mad to bring her back.

“She’s going to get a rude shock when she gets back to the Ballarat winter.”

It came as $2.6m filly Clean Energy took another step in her journey to stardom with a tough victory in the Listed Bill Carter Stakes (1200m) earlier in the day.

Clean Energy makes it two from two in the Listed Bill Carter Stakes at Doomben!@[e-mail]/BIeZrcxNvp

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 25, 2024

• ‘She’s only going to improve’: Neasham stable considers Brisbane mission for Aemelius

Trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott considered running Sunlight’s full sister in the $1m Magic Millions race on the card, but opted for stakes-level success instead, taking a long-term view to her future.

“If we look after her at this point of her career, the money part will come later.” Bott said.

“We’ve got bigger things in store and by no means have you seen the best of her yet. She’s a very progressive filly and I think today has been a real positive and we’ll see that improvement in the spring.

“She’s got phenomenal balance, everything is in proportion and everything is as it should be. You could look at her all day parading there.”

Originally published as Brisbane Coffey break does trick for Arabian Summer in $1m Magic Millions National 2YO Classic