When Black On Gold (Sebring) proved himself the superior stayer in Saturday's Magic Millions Trophy, it was a triumph of true persistence for his connections, who succeeded at the fourth attempt to get a winner on the rich $10 million raceday.
When BK Racing and Breeding paid $200,000 for a colt by Sebring at the 2015 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, they would have harboured ambitions of being back on the Gold Coast 12 months later for the 2YO Classic.
On pedigree at least, he looked capable of making a 2-year-old with his sire a G1 Golden Slipper winner and his dam an unraced half-sister to Driefontein (Fastnet Rock), who among her many victories had the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic.
Black On Gold as a yearling
But while Black On Gold had a pre-Christmas start as a 2-year-old, he wouldn't make it back to the Gold Coast until he was four, when he was sixth, beaten 4.3l in the Magic Millions Trophy at his 22nd start.
Twelve months later, trainer Chris Waller was back with him again for what was then a 2200 metre event, and he was beaten less than 1l, in third behind Tumultuous (Fastnet Rock).
In 2020, Black And Gold would finish second in the Trophy, which had stepped up to 2400 metres, finishing 1.5l behind Primitivo (Sebring).
Waller and the connection's dogged pursuit of the $1 million staying race was at last rewarded on Saturday, when the 7-year-old held out Parry Sound (Pierro) for a lucrative win.
The $582,500 winner's cheque was by far the biggest of his 43-start career, and it takes his total career prizemoney beyond $1.45 million. Over $860,000 of that has been earned in his four starts on the Gold Coast.
He was by no means the only horse rewarded for repeat visits to the Gold Coast, with The Odyssey (Better Than Ready), Jonker (Spirit Of Boom), Aim (Star Witness) and Eleven Eleven (Fastnet Rock) all winning rich races having previous competed on the raceday.
Jonker, a $45,000 purchase from Book 2 of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale in 2017, was near favourite for the 2YO Classic in 2018, but his connections were left disappointed after he was flattened in the run, finishing last of the 16 runners.
It took him three years to get back to the Gold Coast, but as they say, vengeance is a dish best served cold. Now under the eye of Tony Gollan, he romped home in the $1 million Magic Millions Snippets over 1100 metres, delivering $582,500 to take his career prizemoney to $1.26 million.
"It took him three years to get back to the Gold Coast, but as they say, vengeance is a dish best served cold."
Second in that race was Exhilarates (Snitzel), purchased by Godolphin in 2018 for $600,000, who won the 2YO Classic in 2019, and was second in the R. Listed Magic Millions 3YO Guineas last year. She has earned a remarkable $1.754 million across her three runs on the raceday, around 76.3 per cent of her career prizemoney.
Eleven Eleven has turned this raceday into a virtual ATM in the past couple of years. He didn't qualify for the 2YO Classic but 12 months later came back to win the 3YO Guineas in 2020, albeit after initial winner Alligator Blood (All Too Hard) returned a positive swab.
On Saturday, he claimed the $1 million Magic Millions Cup, adding a further $582,500 to the $1.165 million he won last year. That's just short of $1.75 million for less than three minutes work! Not bad going for a horse, which cost $230,000 at the Magic Millions Yearling Sale three years ago.
Gallery: 2021 Magic Millions raceday winners who previously competed on this day
Aim, purchased for $200,000 on the Gold Coast in 2019, started favourite in the 2YO Classic last year, only to be undone by a sticky track, and while he hadn't won a race in the 12 months since, he found his best form in the 3YO Guineas on Saturday, pocketing the $1.205 million winners' cheque.
Third placed Away Game (Snitzel) was the winner of the 2YO Classic last year and continued the strong association she has with the Gold Coast, while fifth placed Gotta Kiss (Not A Single Doubt) was the other horse to have contested that 2-year-old race last year.
The Kelly Schweida-trained The Odyssey (Better Than Ready) was 12th in the 2YO Classic two years ago and eighth in the $1 million QTIS Open H. last year. On Saturday, he held on for a thrilling success in the QTIS H., delivering a $582,500 payday for connections and taking his career prizemoney to $1.7 million.
