Maybe it is my Spanish ancestry that propels me into Don Quixote-type bouts of tilting with windmills, but the approaching Magic Millions on Saturday prompts me again to ask why the two-year-old race isn't entitled to Group status?

The official reasoning apparently is that the Magic Millions Two-Year-Old Classic is a race restricted to the progeny of a specific set of yearling sales and not all two-year-olds are eligible. A similar view is expressed with the Inglis Classic in Sydney.

At the very least, the prizemoney from these two race concepts should be taken into account for the balloting conditions of the Golden Slipper and, by the same token, Group ranking shouldn't be a forlorn hope either.

Is it drawing a long bow to say there are other 'restricted races,' like the Oaks, Derby and some events for fillies and mares that boast a Group One label?

The proof of the pudding, however, is in the results of the Magic Millions, stretching back to the inaugural winner, Snippets, a racetrack and breeding barn success story. Exigencies of space prevent a more extensive examination but at a glance at the Magic Millions honour roll includes many other thoroughbred luminaries.

Regardless of how the ultimate power that guides the destiny of racing in this country decides which races deserve Group status, the Magic Millions concept of the race meeting, in concert with the yearling sales, has been a dazzling success. It's come a long way since the inaugural sale was conducted in a circus tent! Maybe critics at the time thought that was appropriate but they have been proved wrong, well and truly.

The return of globe-galloping jockey (an extension of globe-trotting), Craig Williams, will add even further lustre to the Magic Millions gala on Saturday. Williams has cemented his reputation as a world-class jockey by winning an international jockey's challenge in Dubai after another brief, but eminently rewarding, stint in Japan.

There is a lot to like about Williams when he's at the top of his game. He is a thoroughly professional individual and he handles the incessant demand for radio and TV interviews with grace and gregariousness. His on-going success is deserved.

Staying with the Magic Millions theme, the $2million 2YO Classic is being touted as a NSW versus Queensland battle with the local, Sizzling, second favourite to the Gai Waterhouse-trained Driefontein.

There is a strong form line to support the theory, particularly after both scored favourable barriers. But, being a "tap on the head" for longer odds, I am giving one of the outsiders, Snipzu, an excellent chance. An experienced filly, she will be shaping up for her sixth career start and, hopefully, her third win. Her two runs since a spell have been honest and she should be cherry ripe for Saturday's test. Incidentally, she has a bit of history on her side because her grandsire is Snippets, the winner of the inaugural Magic Millions in 1987.

As for the $1million 3YO Classic, once again I am banking on local knowledge in the shape of the Gold Coast-based Punch On. Trained by Peter Balzen and ridden by Paul Hammersley, she has been a model of consistency at two runs since a spell. Resuming with a close second in the 1200 metre Mode Plate at Doomben in early December, she progressed to win a Group Three Vo Rogue Plate at the same track on New Year's Eve.

Don't they say that the way you finish the old year is the way you would desire to start the New Year?