Above: Sienna Holdsworth-Rose and Coolart Farm Short Torque.

It has very quickly become a tradition that the annual Magic Millions Horse Racing and Sales Festival on the Gold Coast, incorporates a day of Jumping and Polo into the festivities. Held now for the third year in a row at Doug Jennings Park, right on the water at The Spit, the location provided a spectacular venue for the first major domestic Jumping event of 2024. The competitions were held under overcast skies in but at least for the morning part of the show, the rain generally stayed away.

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This year, in addition to the normal Senior teams competition and the Junior competition, there was the addition of an Off-The-Track class, held exclusively for thoroughbred horses.

The first competition of the day saw some of the best Junior talent in the country battling it out for their share of a $10,000 purse. A total of 15 Junior combinations took to the Graeme Watts designed course and with only five combinations being invited back for a second round, the competition was fierce from the start. In all, there were nine clear rounds produced, which meant that only the fastest five survived to compete for the prize money.

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In a seeded draw, the first combination out were Queenslanders Elkee Lang-McMahon and Lily Elmare. They produced a great second round, going clear in 64.28 seconds to set the standard for the others to catch. The first combination to try, were her twin sister Emily Lang-McMahon along with Glenara Mudslide. Unfortunately, they had a fall and were eliminated, finishing in fifth place, which was exactly where they finished in the 2023 event.

The next two combinations, Olivia Price and Chio MS and Joel Lamb and KG Queenie each took a rail, so it came down to the last combination Sienna Holdsworth-Rose and Coolart Farm Short Torque, to challenge for the win. As the commentators told us Sienna is just 15 years old, while and Coolart Farm Short Torque is 19-years of age and has thrown four foals. While the age difference is remarkable, there was no stopping this pair. They raced around the course clear in just 60.07 seconds to claim the title and the $3,000 first prize. It was a well-deserved victory for this talented combination who had travelled up from Victoria to compete.

Above: Joel Lamb and KG Queenie

Above: Elkee Lang-McMahon and Lily Elmare

Above: Olivia Price and Chio MS

The top five placings in the Magic Millions Junior competition for 2024 were as follows:

PLACE	RIDER	HORSE
1st	Sienna Holdsworth-Rose	Coolart Farm Short Torque
2nd	Elkee Lang-McMahon	Lily Elmare
3rd	Olivia Price	Chio MS
4th	Joel Lamb	KG Queenie
5th	Emily Lang-McMahon	Glenara Mudslide

Above: Sienna Holdsworth-Rose and Coolart Farm Short Torque.

After a short break, it was time for the Off-The-Track competition. Most of the field of 17 had qualified for this class by doing well in either a Queensland qualifier or a NSW qualifier, which was held as part of the Summer Classic show back in December. There were also a couple of wildcard entries in the field as well. One was Olympian and Royal, Zara Tindall, who competed on a borrowed horse. Also, top Sydney based thoroughbred trainer Annabelle Neasham tried her luck.

As in the Juniors earlier, only the top five combinations came back for a second round, all of which were clear, creating a level playing field in the battle for the very substantial prize money of $50,000.

The win went to Peter McMahon, going one better than his daughter went in the Junior competition earlier. He and Royal Talisman produced a second clear round, proving that their win in the Queensland qualifier was no fluke. Second place, also clear but in a slightly slower time were local 17-year-old Bella Wozniak riding Simply Red Charged. Eventer Andrew Cooper paired with Ocean Eight to take third place, after taking a rail in the second round. It was the end of an exciting morning of jumping and as the crowds poured into the venue, the finishing touches were being put on a course for the Magic Millions teams event in the afternoon.

The top five placings in the Magic Millions Junior competition for 2024 were as follows:

PLACE	RIDER	HORSE
1st	Peter McMahon	Royal Talisman
2nd	Bella Wozniak	Simply Red Charged
3rd	Andrew Cooper	Ocean Eight
4th	Tim Trihey	Radjish
5th	Matt Irvine	Jadan Park Acapella

Above: Peter McMahon and Royal Talisman

We look forward to seeing what next year brings for this exciting competition.