Officials confident $10m Gold Coast Magic Millions race day won’t be cut

MAGIC Millions officials are confident their $10 million race day on the Gold Coast next year is safe despite Racing Queensland’s cash crisis.

GCB 10-1 Magic millions Races

MAGIC Millions officials are confident their $10 million race day is safe despite Racing Queensland being unable to confirm whether they will hold up their end of the deal to turn the event into Australia’s richest race day in January.

Rumours were rife last week that prizemoney levels in Queensland could be cut as administrator KPMG does its best to cut down RQ’s projected losses.

It comes after Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced this month that RQ is staring at an $11 million loss this financial year and a projected $21 million loss in 2015-16.
NRL: TWEED PROP SIGNS WITH NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
SALLY PEARSON TO LEAD RON CLARKE TRIBUTES

Magic Millions and RQ announced a joint venture in December where both parties would deliver $35 million each over seven years to ensure the annual Magic Millions race day would be worth $10 million until 2022.

Officials are confidents the Magic Millions race day is safe.

But RQ could not confirm whether it would honour its half of the deal yesterday.

“It is premature to make any confirmations or commitments until such time as key stakeholders have been consulted and their interests considered,” an RQ statement read.

“RQ is going through a process to ensure the organisation is running as efficiently as possible and will continue to meet with stakeholders as we look to match returns to them with revenue over time.

“This is fundamental to ensuring a sustainable and strong future for racing in Queensland.”

Gold Coast-based Magic Millions managing director Vin Cox will meet RQ officials this week.

They include KPMG restru­cture specialist Ian Hall, who remains RQ’s acting boss as chief executive Darren Condon gets set to be officially sacked this week.

Cox said he had no reason to believe RQ would not honour its part of the Magic Millions deal.

“There is nothing to suggest anything is going to change,” he said.

Cox confirmed the meeting with RQ officials this week would be Magic Millions’ first since all four RQ boards and its members were sacked on June 2.

“We’ve had a close relationship with Racing Queensland and we want that to continue, so it’s just a get together and a ‘how you going’ sort of scenario,” Cox said.

“We have to work out the race schedule and the lead-in races (to Magic Millions day) and just general administration.”

Cox said he had not considered whether the Magic Millions race day in January would still be worth $10 million if RQ did not honour its half of the deal.

The race day was worth $4.7 million this year.

“I haven’t considered anything like that,” he said. “The fact they have reaffirmed what’s going on with the QTIS scheme gives you a lot of confidence that they have the interests of the industry at heart.”

The State Government confirmed on Saturday that a number of boosts to the Queensland Thoroughbred Investment Scheme (QTIS) would come into affect on August 1 as planned.