me too...start new game and can not use Custom Races from Civ IV before Supernova (grayed Button)
load older Custum game with Race (with older GalCiv III Ships) ...go to Stardock>new Design...back to desktop
So you are trying to load an old save on Supernova? I am afraid we changed too many things, for saves to work correctly. You either have to use the base game, to finish your old game, or start a new one.
Same applies with previously created races. There were some changes, which require you to use the custom creator (the one with GPT)