Jockey Michael Cahill and trainer Kelso Wood were pictured after they'd won the Magic Millions 2YO last Saturday at the Gold Coast with Real Surreal. Will the race hold up long term? If any punter could have come up with Real Surreal on top - which I couldn't - I could have tipped them the other three legs of the Quadrella which paid over $10,000 on some TABs.

Well the Magic Millions annual Saturday race day came and in my mind it posed more questions than it answered.

The Magic Millions 2YO became nigh on impossible to work out as to where the 2013 version sits in the general score of things when the 2/1 favourite Assail was a race day scratching. As the race panned out, Assail wouldn’t have needed to be a star to win the race as the official overall time for the race of 1.09.98 is best described as “grossly disappointing” - given the field were on target to run sub 1.9.00 pace when they passed by the 600. If the Magic Millions 2YO field of 2013 was to produce any future racetrack star they’d surely have to run a lot quicker than 1.09.98?

The Magic Millions 2YO was first run in 1987 – that’s 26 years ago – and even the inaugural winner Snippets could run marginally quicker overall time than Real Surreal at 1.09.90.

In 1992 the top class 2YO Clan O’Sullivan stopped the clock at a brilliant 1.08.40. That’s 21 years earlier and over one-and-a-half seconds, or nine lengths, quicker than Real Surreal ran last Saturday.

Talented sprinter General Nediym ran just on six lengths quicker than Real Surreal when he won the Magic Millions 2YO in 1997.

Dance Hero ran just on 1.3 seconds, or nearly eight lengths quicker, than Real Surreal did last Saturday when he scored in 2004.

Bradbury’s Luck (2005) and Augusta Proud (2008) both ran half a second quicker than the 2013 winner Real Surreal, but in later life Bradbury’s Luck never looked to ever win another race, running an ordinary third to Perfectly Ready in a Blue Diamond Prelude at Caulfield, before being whisked off to stud following two shocking performances, namely a 12^th of 16, beaten seven lengths in the Blue Diamond to Undoubtedly - and a pathetic 10^th of 11, beaten 6.5 lengths in the San Domenico at Randwick to Written Tycoon.

For her part, Augusta Proud hardly set the sprinting world alight following her Magic Millions 2YO win as she couldn’t finish closer than ninth of 16 in the Golden Slipper a few months later, then in another 21 starts after the Golden Slipper she won just three ordinary Adelaide races. If you think “ordinary Adelaide races” is a bit harsh, well the name of the horse's that ran second to her when she won her three races were, in date order, Cerberus Gal (25/7/09), Commanding Hope (8/3/10) and Morgan Dollar (19/2/11) – hardly three Hall of Fame candidates.

Then you may recall that last week I researched a story which showed the 32 starters from the 2011 and 2012 versions of the Magic Millions 2YO have hardly become racetrack stars. That story can be revisited HERE.

So the upshot of all that is that the Magic Millions 2YO overall time of 2013 is best deemed “grossly disappointing”, so I look forward to charting the progress of the runners from this year’s race to see whether this year’s starters are subsequently deemed to be achievers or non-achievers.

Jockey honours on Magic Millions day went to James McDonald and he’s a wonderful talent. He had that filly Bennetta positioned in the run such that she was home as far out as the home turn. And young McDonald rode the enigmatic Triple Elegance which looked like a worldbeater the way he travelled for the youngster.

I thought there were two very interesting rides around Australia last Saturday – one was on the Gold Coast, the other was at Flemington. I found the body language of Bowman on Platinum State on the home turn very interesting in the Gold Coast 3YO Guineas as Glyn Schofield improved to his inside on No Looking Back. Watch it closely for yourself in replay and draw your own conclusions. The other interesting ride on the day and this one should be shown in apprentices school was Glen Boss riding Tuscan Fire in Race 3 at Flemington. Just watch him sit there calmly on his horse, the $2.05 favourite, when Linda Meech tries to make a suicidal run from about 800 metres out. A couple of times Boss looks towards her to basically say “And what the hell are you trying to achieve”. When Boss finally went for home, Meech’s horse Almodovar was under the whip immediately going up and down in the one spot, so patience won the day, but young Linda was a bit trigger happy there last Saturday. No problem with that, as long as she learns from her mistake. It wouldn’t be rocket science to work out that not too many horses make an 800-metre run at Flemington and win.

There were some good efforts by other jockeys around Queensland last Saturday which are deserving of a mention. Beau Appo’s treble on his first day out in the city was written of here last Monday, but up in Mackay last Saturday Dale Missen went one better and rode four winners on the six event card. And notably all four winners were trained by Darren Symons. The pair scored with Avadale in Race 1 at $1.60, Wiseguy at $3.30 in Race 3, Zanatus at $2.30 in Race 5 and $3.20 chance Heroic Talk in Race 6.

Bobby El-Issa’s successful return to the saddle was in the news again when he scored a double in four rides at Nanango last Saturday. He was the punters hero at the meeting, getting home on two favourites - Hidden Starlet in Race 1 for Toowoomba trainer Tony Sears at $2.70 and Hot Chocolat for Peter Kings in Race 4 at $3.60.

Apprentice Geoffrey Goold did a good job to be one of only two apprentice to get a ride at the Gold Coast Magic Millions meeting, then he jumped in his jalopy and took the long drive back to Toowoomba to win Race 2 on Supreme Sledge for trainer Shane Iverson and Race 5 on Ain’t She Sweet for trainer Daryl Peckett at $2.80.

The Toowoomba cushion track meeting last Saturday night featured an extraordinary event that I’ve not seen written or spoken of anywhere. Well the Queensland state-wide newspaper, The Courier Mail doesn’t even have one solitary racing story from any of the three codes in it today, so you’d hardly find anything out there about racing, but at the twilight meeting at Toowoomba last Saturday six races were run. On the night not one solitary favourite won and on-course bookies must have given their already fat bank balances a good kick along. Here’s the prices and placings of the six beaten favourites on the night in race order – Daads Order ($2.30 – second), Outback Fighter ($2 – second), Rivers End ($2.40 – second), Song of the Bell ($1.40 – second), Top of the Rock ($1.70 – second) and Nature Bites ($1.24 – second). What are the odds of that happening, namely 1) not one favourite wins on a six event card and 2) that all six favourites ran second? Hope there were no bank tellers at the meeting who’d borrowed some money from the till for the weekend with the intention of putting it back in Monday. If there were they’ll be keeping “Big Bubba” company in a cell today.

And back to the Magic Millions race day on the Gold Coast last Saturday and if you could come up with Real Surreal in the Magic Millions 2YO race, my Saturday Morning Mail service would have given you the other three legs of the Quadrella which paid over $10,000 on some TABs. There is no way I could come up with Real Surreal on top but here is what was written on the other three Quadrella leg winners – Saluter, Triple Elegance and Whisperossa. Clients of that Saturday Morning Mail service were also advised - in part for their day’s recommended bets - to box Saluter and Sizzling in an Exacta which paid 60/1 and to back Whisperossa win only in the last race. The even money favourite in the last race, I’m Cool, was accurately bagged by both the Saturday Morning Mail service and my Brisbane Sectional Times report and what was stated about that horse last Saturday morning is repeated below, meaning the only place that accurately read I’m Cool’s chances last Saturday emanated from this website. The information sent to Saturday Morning Mail clients via email at 9am on race day on the four subject horses read:

Today on www.brisbaneracing.com.au there is the second montage of photos from racing around the traps in recent days. On www.sydneyracing.com.au there’s some interesting racing facts, whilst on www.melbourneracing.com.au Matt Nicholls continues his review on his 2012 highlights.