The investigation comes as concerned Gold Coast residents wrote to Racing Minister Grace Grace asking for a complete review of the Magic Millions Barrier draw event “in regard to public safety and the safety of horses and jockeys” after the runaways charged off the beach and onto the streets of the Gold Coast Tuesday morning.

While Gold Coast Acting Mayor Donna Gates rejected the need for safety measures to be reviewed, the Workplace Health and Safety Queensland investigation means there may be changes to the future staging of the event.

During the beach race at Surfers Paradise, the two horses riders ditched their riders before heading across the esplanade, narrowly missing a family pushing a pram.

Beachgoers watched on helplessly as the jockeys and race event staff put in chase after the runaway horses. Pedestrians were also forced to dodge the animals and motorists pulled over as the horses on the loose cantered the wrong way up the Gold Coast Highway and then into traffic around a roundabout.

The race is held as part of the barrier draw for the $2 million feature event of the Magic Million race day at the Gold Coast this Saturday.

The beach race was also the precursor to the 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling sales where 1,273 yearlings are going under the hammer across seven days.

In a letter to the Minister, residents said the running of the event at high tide and the two-horse escape showed how dangerous the event could be.
“The escaping horses were less than 10 metres from a family with a child in a pram walking along the public Oceanway footpath. We were lucky this was not a terrible tragedy,” one resident wrote.

“In addition, the Magic Millions gallop along Surfers Paradise beach was a farce given the high tide and the fact horses crashed into a plastic orange barrier and bollards dislodging riders at the end of the gallop, again we escaped a tragedy for both humans and animals.”
The two horses were recaptured around 1 kilometre from the beach after about 30 minutes on the loose.

A spokesman for the Racing Minister said Grace had spoken to the Managing Director of Magic Millions to seek assurances a similar incident would not happen again.

Jockey Tegan Harrison, who was one of the riders thrown during the race, told Channel Seven her horse Julio was “spooked” by the very high tide at Surfers Paradise which meant a narrow sand running track and the horses ending up in the waves.

“Towards the end of the race we went into the water and just had a little stumble, and from there obviously Julio went on a little adventure,” Harrison said.

Katie Page-Harvey, who co-owns the Magic Millions auction house with husband Gerry Harvey, said there was a record crowd for the beach race.

“I just couldn’t believe how many people were there when I got there,” Page-Harvey said. “The horses down the beach, the drones overhead doing the photography, it was amazing.Where else in the world do you see a barrier draw like that?”