Channel 7 Knights Plan AirPods: Magic Millions Concept Moving Forward

The plan, exclusively revealed by Racenet on Tuesday, is for AirPods to be handed out to riders before the race jump and interviews with 7 personalities including Bruce McAvaney before the AirPods are returned before the start.

The plan was questioned by some racing identities on Wednesday, including those who mistakenly believed jockeys would wear AirPods during races.

Star jockey James MacDonald, who will ride Spywire in the $3 million 2YO Classic, also told the radio he wasn't a big fan of the idea and claimed he had “enough things going through my mind before the gates open”.

• EXCLUSIVE: Magic Millions riders wear AirPods for pre-race interviews

But a knowledgeable source at Channel 7 told Racenet they have no plans to move away from the concept.

They said they would continue to select riders on Saturday, awaiting the final technical test on Friday.

It's a different idea to Racing Victoria's failed plan to have riders wear interactive ear pieces during races, which received significant criticism when it was revealed last year.

Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Craig Williams told Racenet yesterday he was in favor of the concept.

“I think anything that helps bring a new audience to racing is great, as long as the safety of the horse and rider is never compromised,” he said.

Queensland Jockeys' Association president Glen Prentice said yesterday he had kept jockeys informed of the matter and they were generally supportive of the plan.

“The jockeys were very receptive in Queensland and that was the same as the jockeys in Sydney,” Prentice said.

“I haven't had a lot of responses from the Victorian jockeys but usually with these things it's the same all in. I think it's a great way to move forward with fan engagement and as long as everything is done right it should be a real winner.”

Originally published as Channel 7 presses ahead with plan to conduct pre-race interviews with riders via AirPods