Magic Millions: Runaway horses no barrier to seaside spectacle

Horses took to Surfers Paradise beach on Tuesday for the Magic Millions barrier draw, but it was a pair of runaway thoroughbreds that stole the show.

Jockey Brenton Avdulla rides the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Summer Loving in the beach races at Surfers Paradise for the Magic Millions barrier draw. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Skydivers, a bugler, thousands of spectators and dozens of galloping horses took to the Surfers Paradise beach on Tuesday for the Magic Millions barrier draw, but it was a pair of runaway thoroughbreds that stole the show.

The duo lost their riders at the end of one of the beach races before heading up the esplanade and onto the streets of the Gold Coast. Bemused beachgoers watched on and motorists pulled over as the horses cantered past.

They were recaptured in a suburban street 1km from the beach.

The jockeys were uninjured but were given a medical assessment, along with the horses.

The unplanned spectacle capped off a busy morning on the beach with a massive crowd of locals and visitors lined up to watch the horses race along the sand as part of the barrier draw in which the starting gates are assigned for the horses competing in the Magic Millions on Saturday.

Katie Page-Harvey, who co-owns the Magic Millions auction house with husband Gerry Harvey, said the perfect weather drew a record crowd for the beach race.

“I just couldn’t believe how many people were there when I got there,” Ms Page-Harvey said.

“The horses down the beach, the drones overhead doing the photography, it was amazing.

“Where else in the world do you see a barrier draw like that?”

Ms Page-Harvey said the annual beach run had come a long way since it was first dreamt-up to put some energy into the dreary barrier draw.

Nicole and Billy Slater, Nacho Figueras, Mike Tindall, Katie Page-Harvey and Gerry Harvey at the barrier draw. Picture: Luke Marsden

“In those days, you’d have a couple of plastic chairs in the middle of a racetrack,” she said. “I thought … why can’t we do it on the beach?”

After approaching the council they were given permission to race “a couple of horses” down the sand. Since then, the event has grown in scale and drawn in more spectators each year.

“This gets beamed around the world,” Ms Page-Harvey said.

“The cumulative effect of that over many years was what you saw today.

“You can take your kids to the beach see these wonderful horses and see a side of racing that you would only normally see on the track, and I think it’s great for racing as well.”

After the beach races, the serious action got under way with the start of the yearling sales near the Gold Coast Turf Club.

The sales usually start slowly and build as buyers unwind during the week, but the big bids started early this year with three horses topping the million dollar mark on day one.

A colt from champion stallion I Am Invincible went under the hammer for $1.65m, while a Snitzel filly sold for $1.25m and a Zoustar filly sold for $1.1m.