HEAVENLY IMPACT'S LUCRATIVE LAST-GASP WIN IN THE $250 000 MAGIC MILLIONS MAIDEN PLATE

By Graham Potter | Saturday, January 11, 2025

Trainer Marcus Wilson landed the biggest win of his career … and, believe it or not, it came in a Maiden race … the $250 000 Magic Millions Maiden Plate at the Gold Coast in which $147 450 went into the winner’s coffers.

That winner was Heavenly Impact, a three-year-old Harry Angel gelding, who won for the first time in his fifth career start under the telling guidance of jockey Jason Collett.

It was a year ago when Heavenly Impact made his debut in the Magic Millions The Debut for colts and geldings on the 2024 Magic Millions day. He filled second place on that occasion behind Lead Me On and then was immediately spelled, only reappearing again four months later when he tackled some tough races over the Queensland Winter carnival.

It that second three race preparation, Heavenly Impact finished no closer than in eighth spot. That was in the Group 2 Champagne Classic won by Bittercreek, who would also go on to finish fourth in the Group 2 Sires Produce and second in the Group 1 JJ Atkins, both behind the very smart Broadsiding.

Heavenly Impact himself finished well down the field in the Sires Produce and was again soundly beaten in his last run of that preparation in the Listed Oxlade which concluded his two-year-old season … but that rich second place finish helped him sign off his two-year-old campaign with a healthy $93 750 banked in prize-money.

Wilson then put Heavenly Impact away and, as he had done with The Debut in the gelding’s first career start, Wilson targeted another rich race on Magic Millions Day, in the form of the lucrative Maiden Plate.

This time Wilson only gave Heavenly Impact one official trial (he had three trials before The Debut) before deeming him ready to fire … and fire he did in explosive fashion, coming from well back to gain a dramatic, last-gasp victory after being punted in from $12 to a starting price of $9.

Heavenly Impact was only ordinarily away at the start, but jumping from the number two barrier ensured that the Wilson trained runners would be saving ground all of the way to the home turn, albeit some five to six lengths off the leader, the $10 chance King Of Dragons, who went out to try and make every post a winning one.

Early in the home straight that deficit was down to four lengths and Collett was now sizing up his options. For a couple of strides he looked to angle his horse out wider on the track but, with horses to his outside running on well enough to make that path fraught with risk for Heavenly Impact, Collett wasted no time in urging his mount back towards the gap on the inside.

Heavenly Impact was still in fifth place with 250m left to run … up to fourth with 200m to go … then third, and now flying, with 180m left to run.

The two horses standing between Heavenly Impact and victory at this late stage in the running were the long-time leader King Of Dragons and the $26 outsider Brazen Act, and now Heavenly Impact not only had to be capable … he had to be brave.

With 100m to go the gap between the two leaders was fairly tight, but Heavenly Impact and Collett took it on without any loss of momentum, surging into daylight, heading Brazen Act inside the final 50m, before cutting down the very game King Of Dragons in the very last stride in what was a thrilling opener to Magic Millions Raceday 2025.

Heavenly Impact, who is owned by Striking Meteor (Mgr: M J Wilson), A J Young, C J Avis, Mrs C L Hohnke, C Hy, Creatures Of Love (Mgr: J W McIntyre), G Blackstock, G Millidonis, G R Povey, G C Thomas, J G Bradmore, K W Moulton, K J Shelley, L Foundis, L L Smith, M Sanderson, P Gray, R J Pollock, T Best & Miss T Geany, was a $26 000 purchase by Wilson Racing at the 2023 MM Gold Coast Yearling Sale Book 2 (Lot 1265).

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