The Real Thing

The Gold Coast is nothing if not colourful and glitzy in a sort of refreshing way that Sydney and Melbourne could take more notice of.
The Magic Millions is now one of the world's great race meetings with prizes that dwarf others. Obviously an injection of cash from (always complaining) retailer Gerry Harvey and his wife Katie is welcome. Yet the often clueless social writers who snatch their freebie flights and Casino hotel rooms in Queensland and breathlessly report on the z-list celebs that attend always forget whose idea it always was and who put the whole idea of a race meet on the Gold Coast into motion, against the odds, and was successful

Angela Belle McSweeney

And credit for that goes to Sydney socialite Angela Belle McSweeney who comes from a well known racing family. It was Angela's brainchild and it was her efforts that eventually saw Queensland's recalcitrant racing officials finally concede that her idea had merit.
The Magic Millions should always pay homage to one of Australia's more interesting public relation's experts and entrepreneurs.
Here are a couple of snaps from this year's event.
 Princess Anne's commoner daughter Zara Phillips (hey guys- she is not Royalty which was  the whole idea of her parents not giving her a title) and one of Sydney's glam couples, fine vodka purveyor Vitek Czernuszyn (right)and his always glamorous wife Deborah Thomas who is head honcho at Bauer Media and doubles up as a Double Bay councilor in her spare time, with a couple of good looking chaps.

Earth to the Channel Ten TV network....

     The Magic Millions -one of Queensland's Gold Coast social events on the racing calendar wasn't the 'brainchild' of advertising man John Singleton and billionaire Gerry Harvey.

 It was the brainchild of publicity guru Angela Belle McSweeney . Angela conceived of the idea-put it together and launched what is set to become a race with the biggest cash prize in the world. Angela also helped build the Dubai Cup into a world major racing event and is often a guest BBC reporter at the Ascot races.

  Do your research folks- Singleton and Harvey took over the enterprize only recently and Singleton's most 'brilliant' idea to date was to bring American Pie actress Tara Reid ( who she?) out as the 'celebrity' guest a year after he launched his Bondi Blonde Beer with the oh-so-yesterday Paris Hilton.

Gerry Harvey & John Singleton demonstrate that adopting the late Kerry Packer's motto "always play to the lowest common denominator" pays off !