The 2025 Magic Millions carnival kicks off in style earlier than usual and, if possible, with even more razzamatazz than normal when the lights are turned on for Gold Coast’s first night meeting on Friday.

If you’re reading this on Thursday or Friday, make sure you head to bestbets.com and download the form guide for what should be a fun night’s entertainment. The card features the $250,000 Magic Millions The Debut (1000m), brought forward this year to give trainers the option of using the race for a lead-in to the $3 million 2YO Classic on January 11.

The meeting will serve as a prelude to the huge January 4 and 11 meetings, and a rehearsal for the newly-minted slot race, the $3 million Magic Millions Sunlight (1100m), which will be run under lights as part of a twilight program on the first of those two days.

In Victoria this weekend it is Pakenham’s chance to shine, not under their surrounding lights, but under the Saturday spotlight as the Cup program returns to a stand-alone metro fixture. It’ll be the second Pakenham Cup for the calendar year after the 2023 version was pushed back in the season, firstly to February then to a Friday in March, before another change in programming saw the 2024 version return to late in the calendar year.

Hopefully for all concerned, and in particular the newly-formed Southside Racing (merger of Cranbourne and Pakenham racing clubs) the race can now find its true home.

Helping cement its location on the calendar in December is the shiny new slot race (yes, another one), the $1 million The Supernova (1400m), which runs hand-in-hand with Cranbourne’s new equivalent, The Meteorite (1200m), won for the first time four weeks ago by Nadal.

Trainer Ciaron Maher will use this Saturday’s race as a guide to the future with Nadal. If he can’t run 1400 metres now against this quality of opposition, then Maher will know he needs to keep the exciting sprinter to shorter distances (an Oakleigh Plate?) when he comes up against bigger guns in the new year.