A centimetre perfect ride from Jason Collett paved the way for a last-stride win and a $250,000 payday for connections of Heavenly Impact in the Magic Millions Maiden Plate (1100m) at the Gold Coast on Saturday.
A year after the son of Harry Angel was runner-up in the $500,000 Magic Millions Debut (900m) on the same program, he shrugged his maiden tag in the best possible manner for connections to kick off the iconic raceday.
Form barrier two, Collett plotted an economical run behind the speed on the three-year-old, who quickened between runners in the final 300m and edged out King of Dragons on the line.
Trainer Marcus Wilson, who paid $30,000 for Heavenly Impact out of the Fernrigg Farm draft in Book 2 at 2023 Gold Coast Yearling Sale, said it was a satisfying win with a horse that has proved challenging to train.
“I’ve been pulling my hair out with this horse,” Wilson said.
“He’s been a very quirky horse to get into the barriers and he is one horse that makes me nervous on raceday.
“It’s good to see him get the job done.
“He’s a big horse and he’s just needed time so we turned him out (after the Oxlade Stakes in June), we gelded him and that’s probably been the making of him, cutting him, it’s the ultimate gear change.
“He was always going to need a lot of luck because not a horse with early speed so I think you’ll see a better horse over seven furlongs.
“It’s our grand final, being a local, and we’ve only got a small team so it’s great to win here.
“We don’t have the big cheque books like some of the big blokes, we just chip away and he only cost $30,000 a couple of years ago.”
Collett said the gelding deserved to win after tackling some feature races during Queensland’s winter carnival in 2024.
“He was nicely placed,” Collett said.
“He just missed in a similar race last year and he hadn’t had a lot of luck during the winter.
“They’ve worked on his barrier manners and I was fortunate, I think the gate definitely helped at this stage of the day.”
Four yearlings by Harry Angel, the sire of inaugural Magic Millions Sunlight winner Private Harry, sold for an average of $256,000 during Book 1 of the 2025 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
The half-brother to Heavenly Impact by Exceedance was passed in with an $80,000 reserve in Collingrove Stud’s draft on Friday.
