Jan. 13, 2013, 10:30 p.m.
GOOD luck to the girls who shared in the riches, glory and champagne by winning the $2 million Magic Millions Classic with Real Surreal.
The all-female ownership group of Real Surreal will have plenty of great memories from Saturday, but unfortunately that is probably where it will end.
The Magic Millions for two-year-olds has its good years but this renewal was rubbish.
When the Golden Slipper rolls around, the winner and all that finished behind Real Surreal won't be sighted.
They looked like an average bunch doing their best chasing the big money at the Gold Coast on Saturday.
The cruel part of the MM this year was that Assail had to be scratched because of a foot abscess on the morning of the race.
Looking at how the race went, Assail would have had that lot beaten at the furlong post.
She would have carried the Magic Millions brand in future big juvenile events.
But she was out and will now be aimed at the Golden Slipper, where she is a real hope.
The one that is forgotten in all the hype of the Magic Millions is a flying grey filly from Melbourne.
Her name is Villa Verde, and what she did over the Melbourne spring has outrated any other youngster in the land.
She bolted home at Caulfield on October 17 and backed that with a splash of speed to win at Flemington on Derby Day.
Her trainer, Shaun Dwyer, at Bendigo, plans to give her a jump out in Melbourne then bring her to Sydney.
She will have a trial at Rosehill then a lead-up into the Golden Slipper.
On what she has done so far, VV and not MM is the way punters should be looking to find the Golden Slipper winner.
■Handy Newcastle galloper Whisperossa's win in the $100,000 Magic Millions Plate over 1200m at the Gold Coast on Saturday proved what part luck plays in racing.
Broadmeadow trainer Darren Smith described preparing Whisperossa as a "pure fluke". '
"Cheryl Oliver and her partners bought Whisperossa, which was offered by Gerry Harvey for just $20,000 at the Magic Millions sales," Smith said.
"One day out of the blue Cheryl rang me and asked would I train him.
"He's proving a great gain for the stable."
The win takes Whisperossa to just under $200,000 in prizemoney.
■It has been a great time for Darren Smith, with Whisperossa in the big money at the Gold Coast and Testarhythm winning the $100,000 Takeover Target Stakes at Gosford last Thursday.
The run of big race wins might continue with his two-year-old filly Dream Forward.
She finished second to the outstanding Calming Influence at Rosehill on Saturday.
The winner made a great debut but Dream Forward was still very impressive in finishing second.
"She will go for a spell now and I am sure she will win plenty of races later this year," Smith said.
■Of the 144 horses entered for the eight races on Magic Millions day at the Gold Coast, one stood out.
That was the filly Bennetta, which won the fillies and mares handicap.
Stable Talk gave Bennetta a huge wrap for her win in Sydney the start before, when she overcame a frontrunners track bias to storm home to win.
On Saturday she was even more impressive after sitting wide throughout.
This one is headed for group 1 glory.
■Courage is not written into form guides but it was on show at Rosehill on Saturday.
Paul Perry's warrior Southern Skye did an amazing job when narrowly beaten in the 1500m event.
He gave away 2.5 kilograms to the winner, Ferment, but over a distance well shy of his best battled all the way.
Southern Skye looked like a real topliner as a three-year-old.
He has had a terrible run with injuries but still keeps on keeping on.
An overdue win is not far away for Southern Skye on that effort.
■ Scone trainer Greg Bennett has a real bargain with Flying Fuji, which won over 1200m at Broadmeadow on Saturday.
The four-year-old mare has won $127,050 from three wins and two minor placings in 10 starts.
Not bad for a $4000 outlay as a yearling at the Scone sales.
"She was a headache, a real rogue as a young horse but my former apprentice Rachel Murray worked on her and now Flying Fuji is very promising," Bennett said.
"She will go to town now."
■Courtney Van Der Werf, who rode Flying Fuji, has scrapped plans to move to Queensland.
The 19-year-old from Christchurch in New Zealand has done the right thing judging on her ride on Flying Fuji. Van Der Werf fairly hurled the mare into a small gap in the straight, which proved the winning factor.
"I am starting to get a go in the provincial areas in NSW so I will stay at Scone and see how I go," Van Der Werf said.
Stick with this girl as she is highly promising.
■Newcastle sprinter Danger Lurks has been banned for life after suffering a second bleeding attack at Broadmeadow on Saturday.
■Of all the lots at the Magic Millions sales, Newcastle trainer Kris Lees knew there was one he just had to bring home.
Lees paid $120,000 for the first foal of his former charismatic mare Absolutelyfabulous.
The filly is by Lonhro and Lees said he just had to have her.
"Abfab" as she was known in her time at the Lees yard was a beaut performer, winning five and being placed another 13 times for almost $900,000 in prizemoney.
Her wins included a victory in the feature Cameron Handicap on her home track in 2009, beating multiple group 1 winner Black Piranha.
"Abfab was special to everyone who had anything to do with her," Lees said.
"It is a thrill to be training her baby."
■John "Bluey" White is inquiring about getting stables at Broadmeadow.
"Bluey", born and bred in Newcastle, made his name as the strapper of Makybe Diva when she won her second and third Melbourne Cups for Lee Freedman.
White has trained winners in Victoria but it looks like he is ready to come home.
■Gosford Race Club will officially be announced as having a stand-alone Saturday meeting staging their cup, Takeover Target and Belle Of The Turf on the Saturday that the Gold Coast has the Magic Millions.
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