Magic Time set for the G1 All Aged Stakes
Trainer Grahame Begg believes Magic Time is still on the improve this preparation as he prepares the mare for her next feature race assignment in the Group 1 All Aged Stakes.
Magic Time is already a Group 1 winner over 1400m this season in last spring’s Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes at Caulfield, and Begg is looking forward to seeing the mare back over that distance in Saturday’s weight-for-age race at Randwick.
Magic Time has been unplaced in the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap and Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes this preparation, but Begg saw plenty of merit in the mare’s latest showing in the TJ Smith (1200m) when she was only just over a length from the winner, Chain Of Lightning, in a bunched finish.
“I thought she ran very well,” Begg said.
“The jockey (Michael Dee) thought she was going to be the winner turning for home. I guess she just drew probably not the gate that was desirable on the day, barrier one.
“She got beaten 1.1 lengths and ran seventh, so she has run very well.
“Obviously she’ll improve with another run under her belt. That was only her second run back this time round.
“We’re very happy with her and she’s stepping up to 1400m.”
Magic Time has raced over 1400m four times during her career for wins in the 2023 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes and the 2022 Listed Amanda Elliott at Flemington, while she has also registered two minor placings over the Randwick 1400m in last year’s James Carr Stakes and the $2 million The Invitation.
“Her form at 1400 is very good,” Begg said.
“She had a good month between runs between the Newmarket and the TJ and now two weeks into the All Aged.”
Begg said a trip to Brisbane after the All Aged was also a possibility for the mare.
“We’ll get over next Saturday first,” he said.
Magic Time is among 17 nominations for the All Aged which also includes Espiona – sixth in the Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) on April 6 – along with Southport Tycoon and Private Eye.
Espiona holds favouritism in early markets to $3.50 with Magic Time at $8 with online bookmakers.
The All Aged is one of two Group 1 races on Saturday’s program along with the Champagne Stakes for two-year-olds.
More Racing News
Dan Morton keeps faith with 2024 Railway Stakes mare
Trainer Dan Morton has shrugged aside Super Smink’s horror barrier draw and still thinks she can win the Group 1 Swan Draught-Railway Stakes (1600m) at Ascot on Saturday. A layer of complexity was added to Super Smink’s Railway Stakes bid after she was handed barrier 18, but Dan Morton is keeping the...
Timing right for Port Lockroy in G1 Railway Stakes bid
He’s one of five interstate raiders and the outsider of the quintet, but co-trainer, Rob Archibald believes there is a sense of timing about Port Lockroy in Saturday’s Group 1 Railway Stakes (1600m) at Ascot. Rob Archibald, who shares training duties with Annabel Neasham, says Port Lockroy put himself into Railway Stakes...
Royal task for Gilded Water at local debut
A benchmark race on The Gong undercard will add some Royal flavour to the stand-alone Kembla Grange meeting when a horse owned by His Majesty King Charles III makes his local debut. Four-year-old Gilded Water has been sent to Australia to continue his racing career, having started just four times in the...
Jason Collett hoping to find Express lane in The Gong
Jason Collett is resigned to the fact that he will be more reliant on luck than good management as he tries to coax another win out of Territory Express in the $1 million The Gong at Kembla Grange. The Provincial-Midway Championships Final victor in the autumn, Territory Express has a get-back racing pattern...
Improving trio to fly flag for Godolphin at Kembla Grange
Godolphin doesn’t have a representative in The Gong, but James Cummings is content to rely on a trio of up-and-coming sprinters to carry the stable’s hopes at the stand-alone Kembla Grange meeting. Fleetwood will headline the leading yard’s squad when he resumes in the Group 3 The Warra (1000m), while Pisanello and Restonica contest benchmark...
Mark Walker aims for ‘new’ hometown Cranbourne Cup
Trainer Mark Walker has a good record when in form New Zealand gallopers land in Australia. Walker’s latest ‘import’ is It’s A Wild Night who will have his first Australian outing in the Listed Cranbourne Cup (1600m) on Saturday. It’s A Wild Night arrived at Walker’s Cranbourne base just over a week ago...
Trainer Gavin Bedggood chasing Fortune in The Meteorite
Gavin Bedggood hopes the decision to take Oscar’s Fortune to Cranbourne for a midweek gallop will pay off handsomely on Saturday. Oscar’s Fortune runs in the $1 million The Meteorite (1200m), a new ‘slot race’ that Southside Racing, a merged entity of the Cranbourne and Pakenham Clubs, runs for the first time. The former...
Railway Stakes 2024 timing perfect for Baker’s Bel
In-form mare Belclare will need to overcome a wide alley to land her first Australian Group One win in the Railway Stakes at Ascot, and connections believe Nash Rawiller is the perfect man for the job. A two-time victor at the highest level in New Zealand, Belclare joined the Sydney stable of Bjorn...
John Stewart eyes Melbourne with 2024 Japan Cup fancy
Goliath faces one of the toughest tasks in racing this weekend, beating the Japanese at home in their biggest race, but John Stewart is already planning his next moves with his star recruit and Australia is on the itinerary. The ambitious American has quickly become a powerful investor in Australian racing and...
Hedged poised to give The Warra rivals a trim-up
The Magic Millions carnival is the campaign focal point for promising sprinter Hedged, but trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr are hoping he can knock off a feature race along the way. The gelding will resume in the Group 3 The Warra (1000m) at Kembla Grange on Saturday, his first start...
