Qld Off-The-Track Cup

Jai Warner • November 6, 2023

THE PACIFIC FAIR MAGIC MILLIONS POLO & SHOWJUMPING INTRODUCES QUEENSLAND OFF-THE-TRACK CUP WITH $50,000 PRIZE MONEY POOL – ON JANUARY 7, 2024


New showjumping competition open to all Off-The-Track Thoroughbreds with riders connected to the racing industry supporting Equine Pathways Australia


Magic Millions has today (28/10) announced the introduction of The Queensland Off-The-Track Cup, a new showjumping class at 90cm open to all off-the-track thoroughbreds and their riders who are broadly involved in the thoroughbred industry – an industry that contributes over $9.1Billion annually to the Australian economy, in direct and indirect benefit.


The new showjumping event class intends to create an incentive and competition pathway for thoroughbred equestrian enthusiasts. At 90cm, the new competition class aims to be accessible and safe.


Magic Millions and the Queensland Off-The-Track (QOTT) Program are focused on creating exciting competitive opportunities for those who invest in the retraining of thoroughbred racehorses at the grassroots for equestrian disciplines.


“Those within the horse industry are the ultimate horse-lovers,” Magic Millions co-owner Katie Page-Harvey said. ‘We work with thoroughbreds whether it is in breeding, training, ownership or at the racecourse, but few people know that for so many of us we enjoy a life outside of work with retrained racehorses – showjumping, polo, dressage, and eventing.


“Horses are our 24/7 passion, and this new showjumping class is a chance for those passions to come together and be appreciated in a fantastic competitive environment.


“Opening it up to those 16 and over who have a connection to the thoroughbred industry is a huge participation group. We have deliberately chosen the height at 90cm in the first year, it is an accessible height, with the event developed to be fun, safe and exciting for those who love showjumping.” Ms Page-Harvey said.


“Vets, farriers, racehorse owners, breeders, strappers, horse truck drivers, farmers who grow feed, jockeys, pre trainers/ trainers and re-trainers.


“So many people you know have a connection to this vital industry. Our showjumping class is open to you all if you have an OTT to compete on.”


In total, there will be 15 finalists who will compete for a $50,000 prize pool at the inaugural Queensland Off-The-Track Cup on the Gold Coast at the Pacific Fair Magic Millions Polo & Showjumping on Sunday, January 7.


With the support of QOTT and working with Darling Downs Jump Club in Toowoomba in November and Jumping NSW’s Sydney Summer Classic in December, Magic Millions is seeking to bring the entire industry together who share a love for the retired racehorse as a showjumper.


As a result, there will be two qualifiers conducted across the nation:

Queensland Off-The-Track qualifying round: Toowoomba, Darling Downs Jump Club November 26, 2023.


  • The top-eight finishers will qualify for the final on January 7, 2024.


Magic Millions Sydney Summer Classic qualifying round: Sydney International Equestrian Centre December 7 – 10, 2023.

  • The top-five finishers will qualify for the final on January 7, 2024.


Racing Minister Grace Grace said she was delighted to see Magic Millions and the QOTT Program partner to present such an exciting event. 


“The introduction of the Queensland Off-The-Track Cup to the Magic Millions Carnival is the perfect way to showcase our retired racehorses,” Minister Grace said.


“Thoroughbreds are incredibly versatile animals, who adjust quickly to new pursuits, and showjumping is just one of the many avenues they can pursue in their retirement from the racetrack.


“The polo and showjumping have become beloved events on the Gold Coast each year, and in January, we look forward to our retired racehorses taking centre stage and enjoying their post-racing careers.”


In addition to the 13 finalists from the Queensland and NSW qualifiers, a further two wildcards whose OTT meet the entry criteria will be issued:

  • A Magic Millions Racing Women’s wildcard announced on December 6, for a female industry participant with the highest fund-raising total for Equine Pathways Australia by (money raised by December 1, 2023); and
  • A surprise celebrity wildcard to be announced at the launch of the 2024 Star Gold Coast Magic Millions Carnival on December 1, 2023.


The QOTT Program was established in 2021 following the Martin Inquiry to provide a high-quality first transition for thoroughbred and standardbred horses from racing and breeding activities to retirement.


Since its inception, QOTT has launched five major initiatives including the Subsidised Lessons Program, the Acknowledged Retrainers Program, the Event Sponsorship Program, the QOTT Grants Program and the QOTT Clubhouse.


With the QOTT Program spending more than $1.3 million on its activities last financial year, more than $2.5 million is forecast to be spent in 2023-24.


QOTT Board Chair Dr Christine Johnson said they were thrilled to partner with Magic Millions to present the Queensland Off-The-Track Cup and to embrace the inclusion of a dedicated class for retired racehorses at the 2024 Pacific Fair Magic Millions Polo & Showjumping.


“QOTT’s investment in equestrian sport has seen a strong demand for retired racehorses across the state which is pleasing to see, and also complements the work being done by the Queensland Off-The-Track Program and our network of acknowledged retrainers,” Dr Johnson said.


“The inaugural series will showcase the versatility and athleticism of thoroughbreds in one of the many pursuits that retired racehorses embark on in their life after racing.


“We’re looking forward to following the qualifying events and are particularly excited to watch the final here in Queensland as a celebration of all things equine at the Magic Millions Carnival.”


As an extension of this new showjumping class, Magic Millions is working with Equine Pathways Australia to demonstrate the combined priorities of the post-racing career of the thoroughbred and the welfare of both the horse and human.


Based in Victoria with services nationally, Equine Pathways Australia provide counselling assistance, support and rehabilitation to bring equestrian dreams to life for riders with an injury or disability. Equine Pathways Australia integrates appropriately retrained racehorses into their programs where possible.


The celebrity wildcard will donate their winnings to Equine Pathways Australia.


“For our inaugural event, Magic Millions will fundraise on behalf of Equine Pathways Australia towards the acquisition of an elite dressage competition horse to potentially enable a para-dressage rider to represent Australia at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games and beyond. This is a first step in what we hope will be a program which will be a game changer for Australian para-equestrians as they campaign towards the 2032 Brisbane Paralympic Games.” Ms Page-Harvey said.


Warren Moore, EPA Chairman, said, “We are proud to partner with Magic Millions, QOTT and the Queensland Government. The EPA program provides para-athletes, of all abilities, a welcoming and supportive community around the country, where everyone shares each other’s journey to their ‘gold medal moment.’ That moment may be on the international stage, achieving a personal best, or even just riding again. The love of the horse is what we all have in common.”


Julia Battams, founder and program executive manager of Equine Pathways Australia said, “This partnership will have long term benefits for the entire Australian para-equestrian community. There will be riders learning about this today who now know a pathway exists for them to fulfil their dreams. I can see Australians on a podium on the world stage leading to Brisbane in 2032. It would be magic for an OTT to be a para-athlete’s much-loved partner on that journey.”


The prize money breakdown is:

1st       $10,000                      2nd      $8,000

3rd       $6,000                        4th       $5,000

5th       $4,000                        6th       $3,500

7th       $2,500                        8th       $2,000

9th       $2,250                        10th     $1,750

11th     $1,500                        12th     $1,250

13th     $1,000                        14th     $750

15th     $500


For those interested in entering the Queensland and NSW qualifying rounds for the Queensland Off-The-Track Cup the conditions for entry are available here.



For details on when entries open follow Pacific Fair Magic Millions Polo & Showjumping on Facebook or Instagram.

Stud and Stable Staff Awards

January 15, 2025
The 2025 Australian Stud and Stable Staff Awards proudly announce the commencement of nominations, welcoming you to appreciate, celebrate and motivate individuals shaping the future of our industry. The Awards provide a platform to express gratitude for a colleague, friend or family member in the thoroughbred industry. While the nomination process remains simple, it stands as a powerful and significant means of acknowledging their work and contributions. This year, a six-week submission window is available, closing 5.00pm AEDT on Monday, 17 February 2025. As you submit a nomination, consider how this small amount of your time and effort will not only instill pride in your nominee but also highlight the value of their contributions to the industry. NOMINATE HERE

Size and Scope Study - Your Help Needed

January 15, 2025
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TBQA ELECTION and AGM NOTICE

By Stacey Silver • January 13, 2025
NOTICE IS GIVEN that the Annual General Meeting of Thoroughbred Breeders Queensland Association Inc. for 2024 will be held at the Magic Millions Sales on Sunday, 9 March 2025. We warmly invite all TBQA members to attend. ELECTION OF MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEMBERS There are three (3) positions which have become vacant in rotation as per our constitution and require election of office bearers. These are the positions of Mike Kelly, Steve Morley and Richard Foster. All three plan to recontest their positions. Dan Fletcher (Telemon Stud) was appointed to the committee in 2024 upon the resignation of Stan Johnston. If you wish to contest one of these positions you and nominate for the TBQA Committee you should be; (1) a breeder; (2) prepared to give up approximately 5 hours per week to the TBQA; (3) happy to attend industry functions when required; (4) able to attend all committee meetings (approximately 1 per month); (5) prepared to promote the Queensland breeding industry at all times. The work load is not large but it is a very important committee as it represents the most significant section of the thoroughbred industry. Please consider your candidacy carefully for this committee. NOMINATIONS ARE DUE BACK TO THE TBQA OFFICE BY CLOSE OF BUSINESS (5:00pm) ON FRIDAY 31 January 2025 via email info@queenslandbreeders.com.au with the original documents to be posted to TBQA, PO BOX 18003, Toowoomba, QLD, 4350 Download the nomination form here

TBA Learning - Working at the sales

January 9, 2025
AgriFutures provided funding to develop modules for TBA Learning, the Australian thoroughbred breeding industry’s home for online learning. The free online learning modules promote best practices that help improve horse and human welfare on a thoroughbred breeding farm and for any thoroughbred that was bred for racing. The first of the new modules has been uploaded to the TBA portal - Working at the horse sales and provides educational material about the tasks that people undertake when working for a farm at a thoroughbred sale. Details here

Endoscopy at Australian yearling sales: can we do better?

January 9, 2025
In this study, key industry groups, namely Thoroughbred breeders and veterinarians involved in yearling endoscopy, were engaged to investigate current concerns surrounding yearling sales endoscopy and discuss different laryngeal function grading systems and potential improvements to the current process. A large retrospective study (of a minimum of 5000 post-sale endoscopic examinations) was performed to investigate the relationship between post-sale laryngeal function score in Thoroughbred yearlings and future performance. The results will be used to determine the validity of the current yearling sales endoscopy process and guide future recommendations. One signficiant outcome of this research was the decision by all Australasian sales companies to take on the recommendation to change the yearling laryngeal grading system to the Havemeyer system from the traditional Lane-Bain Fallon scale. The Havemeyer system gives greater accuracy and clarity and takes away some of the stigma around grade 3 terminology that the research shows statistically shouldn't be there. Project snapshot: Project snapshot: Endoscopy of the upper respiratory tract at Australian thoroughbred yearling sales: can we do better? | AgriFutures Australia Final report: Endoscopy of the upper respiratory tract at Australian thoroughbred yearling sales: can we do better? | AgriFutures Australia

2024 RD&E Snapshot

January 9, 2025
The Snapshot provides a high-level, accessible overview of the current and recently completed projects funded by the Thoroughbred Horses Program. It contains a series of newspaper-style articles about the various projects underway or recently completed, highlighting the work undertaken, the findings and the implications for industry. AgriFutures Thoroughbred Horses Program 2024 RD&E Snapshot | AgriFutures Australia

QOTT Retrainer Rikkie Morton makes a difference

January 9, 2025
Preparing horses for life after racing has always been in the blood for Rikkie Morton, but his retraining has gone to a whole new level since joining the Queensland Off-The-Track (QOTT) Program. The 40-year-old recently signed on as a QOTT Acknowledged Retrainer, with both thoroughbreds and standardbreds in his care. With his parents and grandparents all horse people, Morton has been around horses his whole life and decided he too wanted to make a difference when securing his property at Winwill in 2022. “When we bought our property a few years back, we decided to buy some horses and to put it bluntly, I couldn’t trust anyone with my horses,” Morton said. “So I put in the effort and got myself a couple of mentors and put my natural instinct to work and got to training these horses and it actually flowed on from there where I had friends of friends coming to me and asking me to train their horses and I ended up building a business from it. “What I found was in the market, a lot of the clients that were coming to me were purchasing off-the-track racehorses for a sum of money thinking that this horse is safe and sound for them to jump on and ride and off they go. “It was quite contrary to that - they needed a lot of retraining after coming off the track. “People were buying these horses for cheap, then they couldn’t handle them, didn’t know what to do with them, and were uneducated people in terms of retraining retired racehorses and it wasn’t a good outcome for the horses or the owners either. “I wanted to try and have an impact in that area where I’d been successfully retraining for our clients and I can make it more accessible so I can stop that cycle as much as we can by retraining these horses and then putting them into suitable homes.” Morton operates his business, MCE OTT Retraining and Rehoming, alongside wife Chantelle. The 125-acre property has onsite training facilities and access to an abundance of trails around the surrounding Lockyer Valley region, which Morton frequently utilises when retraining off the track horses. Since joining the QOTT Program in October, he has already successfully rehomed former harness racer Goelitz, who had eight wins from a 56-start career. Morton currently has three other horses on his property who are also being retrained, a number that he says would not have been possible without the assistance of the QOTT Program. “I think it’s a great thing, it’s outstanding for us as retrainers,” Morton said. “I was already doing it where I was either sourcing these horses myself or I had a couple of race trainers that were utilising us. “But the benefit of the QOTT Program to help financially, and know that the biggest costs of actually doing it ourselves was going to be reimbursed when we successfully rehomed that horse, has a massive positive impact. “With Goelitz, I’m about to get reimbursed all his vet bills, all his feed, and for me that seems small, but it gives me the ability to have confidence to get the next horse in.” Morton said the QOTT Program had also helped him with being able to dedicate more time to the retraining process. “We break horses and train horses of all shapes and sizes but our clients are limited by budget so they may say they can only afford six weeks’ worth of work,” he said. “With QOTT, I have six months available to me where I’m covered in terms of bills and that means that I don’t have to rush this horse through in six weeks or accelerate his program and push him on to the next challenge before he’s ready. “That’s where the QOTT Program helps…I can have more horses because I have the ability to be reimbursed once they’re rehomed. “Additionally, the amount of people that have contacted me saying I got your number from Racing Queensland - whether it’s a purchaser or a trainer looking to rehome a racehorse - it just works in both aspects. “It brings more opportunity to me with horses and also helps me rehome those horses to buyers that are buying through trusted sellers so it’s just a win-win all the way round.” Morton says his greatest success story as a retrainer so far has come in the form of former racehorse Maxi’s Taxi. The thoroughbred gelding only started in five races and required plenty of attention when he landed in Morton’s care. “He would never go on a float, he hated a float and would always carry on about it,” Morton said. “It was a process, and it took time and it didn’t happen in six to eight weeks, but it got to the point where I was happy for my kids to ride this horse in the round yard. “The willingness of Maxi to learn and be re-educated at nine years of age was great to see. “Working him through that and getting him through those challenges and to be able to ride him in the round yard - that’s a very emotional outcome when you can get a horse to do that.” While Morton retrains both thoroughbreds and standardbreds, he is most enjoying working with the harness racing breed to prepare them for new homes. “Both breeds have their challenges in terms of retraining them, but in my experience the standardbred is a much quieter, calmer horse for the clients I aim to match them with,” Morton said. “There’s plenty of people out there retraining horses for dressage and for sporting events, that are probably a little bit more of the athletic-type horses so to speak, and the thoroughbreds are really good for things like showjumping. “Whereas there’s a bit of a market out there for middle-aged women who have had kids that are trying to get back on a horse for the first time in a number of years, or ones that have had an incident at some point in their time riding horses.

Save A Horse Australia partnership continues to flourish

December 15, 2024
The Queensland Off-The-Track Program’s partnership with Save A Horse Australia continues to support former racehorses well beyond their years on the racetrack. The partnership – unveiled 12 months ago – ensures a formal safety net for racehorses that have left the racing industry and become vulnerable at later stages of their lives. The three-year partnership, worth $900,000, supports the work SAHA does to take in vulnerable and neglected former racehorses into their care at their horse rescue and rehabilitation sanctuary. It also allows SAHA to continue monitoring horse sales in Queensland for the purpose of purchasing vulnerable and/or at-risk retired racehorses. Established in 2001, Beaudesert-based SAHA is Australia’s largest equine charity. SAHA’s purpose is to rescue and rehabilitate neglected, abused and surrendered horses, prior to assessing them and rehoming them appropriately into suitable homes under a lifelong lease agreement. Former jockey and SAHA president Laura Cheshire said the partnership has increased their ability to be able to better assess each horse to ensure they are placed into the right homes. “This partnership has really opened things up for our thoroughbreds and standardbreds here, and has allowed us to go through a really thorough process before they can move on to their next home,” she said. “Thanks to the Queensland Off-The-Track Program, we have really raised awareness for the racing industry that the horses are incredibly well looked after. Unfortunately, it is post-racing that the horses can slip through the cracks. “Going forward, we’re going to be able to keep bringing horses in from all walks of life. “These horses still have so much to give in their post-racing lives, and we are really fortunate to be able to help them move into that next stage of life in collaboration with QOTT.” The QOTT Program was established in 2021 following the Martin Inquiry to provide a high-quality first transition for thoroughbred and standardbred horses from racing and breeding activities to retirement. Racing Queensland Senior Animal Care Manager said that the partnership has created a lot of public awareness about the racing industry’s support of former racehorses once they leave the track. “The partnership with Save A Horse Australia has been so incredibly important – not only for the horses we support, but also for the racing industry,” she said. “We are so lucky in Queensland to have a registered charity like SAHA who does incredible work. “Their equine welfare is second to none, and the knowledge and experience of the people who run this organisation is really important to ensure that our former racehorses are well cared for. “To have a formal safety net in Queensland to support former racehorses should they ever become vulnerable or at risk later in their lives is incredibly important for the Queensland Off-The-Track Program but also for the racing participants who loved and cared for these horses during their racing years.” This partnership complements the various post-racing initiatives introduced by QOTT over the past three years. These include the QOTT Grants Program, the Subsidised Lessons Program, Acknowledged Retrainers Program, Event Sponsorship Program, QOTT Nutrition Education Hub, QOTT Clubhouse and the New OTT Owner Welcome Pack, QOTT Education Program and QOTT’s Premium Event Partnerships. Click here for more information on the Queensland Off-The-Track Program.

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2024 Nolan Scholarship Winner

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Congratulations to Madeline St Ledger, this year’s Nolan Scholarship recipient! Maddie, a member of the 2021 Fast Track class, completed her 12-month placement at Eureka Stud in QLD and loved it so much that she stayed on. She’s continued to develop her skills, from handling yearlings to assisting in the foaling unit. As this year’s Nolan Scholarship recipient, Maddie will head to Ireland in January 2025 to join the prestigious Irish National Stud Breeding Course.
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