Yarraman Park went into the 2017 Magic Millions 2YO Classic with a strong hand having sold the top three contenders in the market – Houtzen, From Within and Invincible Star- and victory duly went to one of the trio with Houtzen overcoming her wide gate to score an explosive win. Veteran jockey Jeff Lloyd was the toast of Australian racing on Saturday after piloting the star filly to a popular win in the $2 million Jeep Magic Millions 2YO Classic (1200m) on the Gold Coast. It was the 55-year-old’s maiden ride in the lucrative juvenile feature and saw him produce an inspired performance from the outside barrier on the speedy daughter of I Am Invincible. The victory, which delivered connections of the undefeated filly a $1.2 million payday, continued a staller season for Lloyd who sits atop the Brisbane Jockey Premiership, having easily claimed the 2015/16 Premiership. “She did it all and she did it tough,” Lloyd said. “She never really came back to me and I had concerns throughout the whole race that she might have got across too quick and be doing too much. “She’d had enough in the last 50m but she was entitled to.” Local trainer Toby Edmonds, who also trained Houtzen’s sire I Am Invincible, said the win was a fantastic result for a group of loyal owners. While he had deliberated the tactics Lloyd would employ from the outside gate, Edmonds said the consensus pre-race was to give the filly an opportunity to utilise her natural speed to cross the field. “She was the best filly today, Jeff was really aggressive and she ran through the bridle a little bit and got a little tired but it was such a great effort,” Edmonds said. “We talked about riding her differently but we thought that if we took her out of her regular pattern it might not work so we’d just let her roll and see what happens. “The Magic Millions for us is everything because it’s our home town carnival and all of the guys in this horse are Gold Coasters except for a couple of outsiders.” Houtzen clocked 1.09.49 for the 1200m dash, accounting for fast-finishing runner-up Chauffer, the $1.6 million sale-topper last year with Victorian filly Madeenaty, a $775,000 purchase a further two lengths away in third. A $105,000 Magic Millions purchase for her trainer from the Yarraman Park draft, Houtzen was bred by Noel Leckie and is the first winner from Reset mare Set to Unleash, whose dam is a half-sister to globe-trotting Champion 3YO Filly Sun Classique. She is the 18th stakes-winner for I Am Invincible, who is enjoying a phenomenal season both on the racetrack and now in the sale ring, achieving a new benchmark this week with a colt from Admirelle selling for $900,000 at Magic Millions. I Am Invincible had a huge day at the Gold Coast races having also sired MM feature race place-getters I Am Zelady, Eckstein and Viddora.
