Like the TAB Everest, the Gold Coast Magic Millions 2YO Classic doesn’t carry Group 1 status but is still a very prestigious addition to the CV of winning jockeys.

When asked on a recent podcast to nominate a member of his 60 horse team who might have a better than average future, Brett Cavanough had the following to say.

Regular followers of South Australian racing feel very comfortable with the presence of Paul Gatt among the state’s leading riders. He’s one of those jockeys who seems to have been around forever.

Angela Davies was devastated one day in 1974 when her late father Bruce told her to dismiss any thought of becoming a jockey. The racing mad sixteen year old had the right build and truckloads of passion.

Mandalong Tapit didn’t beat a star studded field in winning the Christmas Cup at Gunnedah on Saturday, but the sweet actioned grey put them away by an emphatic 5.8 lengths.

Scone trainer Stephen Jones was three strides off landing a unique two state metropolitan double on Saturday. He was glued to a TV monitor at Rosehill Gardens as his promising two year old colt Baby Wong failed by a neck to run down Conexy in the Doomben Plate,

Unfavourable barriers brought Keagan Latham’s winning run to an end at Newcastle on Tuesday with only one of his five mounts finishing in the money, but he was in no position to complain.

With the ink barely dry on her brand new trainer’s licence, Claire Lever was dealing with the race day jitters as she legged husband Chad onto Grace Bay before the 1100m Class 1 at Gundagai’s Snake Gully Cup meeting last Friday.

The last thing Cejay Graham wanted to do was disobey instructions when she had one of her rare rides for the Waller stable at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.

Post race stories usually highlight the deeds of winners, but there was a runner up at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday deserving of special mention.

Successful trotting horse trainers have been dabbling with thoroughbreds for more than a century. In the early days it happened rarely. In more recent years an ever increasing number of harness racing people have been wooed by mind boggling prize money levels, and the glamour of the turf.

Kerry Parker was in a buoyant mood long before Think It Over gave him a Group 3 win in the historic Craven Plate on Saturday.

Only a student of South African history would have picked up on the significance of the colours carried by Montefilia in Saturday’s Flight Stakes.

Co trainers Richard and Michael Freedman are leaving their options open regarding the remainder of Love Tap’s spring campaign.

Tim Clark felt nothing unusual in Taikomochi’s action as he trotted him back to scale after a comprehensive win in Saturday’s Kingston Town Stakes.

Fierce Impact’s original owners must have mixed feelings about the stallion’s slashing Group 1 Australian treble - Toorak Hcp, Cantala Stakes and Saturday’s Makybe Diva Stakes.

Muswellbrook trainer Tim McIntosh was resigned to defeat when Absolute Trust was tackled by Clearly Regal 200m out in Saturday’s TAB Highway at Randwick. “I thought Kurt Goldman’s horse had his measure, but our bloke showed plenty of fight,” he said.

Craig “Froggy” Newitt’s winning ride on Immortal Love in Saturday’s H.D.F. McNeil Stakes may have been matched somewhere on the day, but it certainly wasn’t bettered.

No jockey in Australia was more “pumped” than Wendy Peel when she walked onto the Gold Coast racecourse on Saturday. For a start she was pretty chuffed to have won on French Ocean the day before at Gatton for her new boss Paul Butterworth - one of several wins for the combination since Paul took over her indentures from Nyngan (NSW) trainer Rodney Robb six weeks earlier.

Belinda Hodder sounded remarkably chipper on Sunday for a jockey who’s had a frenetic start to the new racing season. At the time of our phone conversation, she’d had 31 rides since August 1st at seven meetings on six different racetracks for three wins and five placings.