ZA MAGIC CASTS A SPELL OVER THE OPPOSITION

By Graham Potter | Monday, June 29, 2009

It is not often you can confidently celebrate your win all the way from the 200m mark to the line, but that is exactly what the connections of the Maryann Thexton trained Za Magic were able to do as the gelding lined his opposition in the Listed Sunshine Coast Guineas over 1600m on Saturday.

And celebrate they did ... a little cautiously at first as their radar scanned for a possible swooper, but, when that threat did not materialise, their cries of support became louder and more carefree until Za Magic crossed the line at which time their level of enjoyment was cranked up to its highest level.

It was a noteworthy training effort from Thexton, who was bringing Za Magic back from the Derby distance of 2400m to a mile, with the race taking place on extremely testing underfoot conditions. All credit too to jockey Glen Colless, who let the horse run its own race, a tactic which helped the three-year-old achieve the perfect outcome.

Sunshine Coast, June 27.
Sunshine Coast Three-year-old Guineas - 1600m. Time: 1-45.82.
Track - Heavy 10.
1 Za Magic; 2 Walk In The Park; 3 Syndrome.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Maryann Thexton: “We freshened him up because he’s done hardly any work. Actually, we’ve had him up here for three days. We wanted to see how he travelled because he is fairly nervy before the race. He’s a bit difficult behind the scenes. He can get himself into a lather of sweat. So we brought him up here early. Mick Mair kindly gave us a box. He settled right in and that obviously helped the horse a lot. We thought this would be a good seasoning for him anyway. If we want to go South at some stage, we need to know how he is going to handle it.

“I was really worried about the wet track today. Brad (Stewart) was worried about him in the Rough Habit at Doomben, he said he just got through it. The wet track at Eagle Farm stopped him like a freight train, so I didn’t know what he was going to do today. We nearly tipped him out. I was here at seven o’clock this morning. I walked the track. I tossed and turned and didn’t know what to do. But I thought, ah we’re here, we’ll run.

“I just love the horse. He’s given us a tremendous campaign. We put a lot of planning into this actual race. There was a lot of thought as to whether to go to the paddock or to run in it. They (the owners) let me call the shots all the way, (trusting me) not to break him or hurt him. He just kept improving, and I just said, we’ve got to go. They’re great owners, you know. They don’t miss a race. Win, lose or draw, they just have a great time.

“He’s going to the paddock and we are just going to bring him back and set him for a race when he is ready. We’ll let him come back to Brisbane racing, and if he brings that form back he should win a couple there and then we will take a look elsewhere. He’s only a three-year-old gelding, he’s got seasons and seasons of racing ahead of him, so we will let him tell us.”

“We hung out (for a jockey) until Brad had his appeal. He didn’t get his appeal. I didn’t have a jockey. The phones were ringing ... and we finally got Glen (Colless) up which was great.”

Jockey Glen Colless: “It was a good pick-up rode wasn’t it? It was a good win. I was pretty aggressive on him out of the gates. I came out to be a bit positive. Once I found the front I had a really easy time of it. From a half mile out I always thought he was going to win. I thought he was going to very hard to beat from there. He’s a big, relaxed fellow and he came back underneath me perfectly. He just travelled so sweet beneath me and he had a good kick in the straight. He’s a really nice horse.

“Maryann (Thexton) has done a real good job with him, you know. Back from the Derby ... back to a mile. She’s done a great job.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Yummy was declared a late scratching on veterinary advice at 3.58 pm when the filly was found to be sore in the off-foreleg.

Sliver Whisper (N. Thomas) was considerably slow to begin. Trainer A. Williamson was advised that he must provide 2 barrier certificates for Silver Whisper prior to its next race start. A Little Knowledge (B. Hull) was slow to begin. Sconandtink (J. Piper) jumped away awkwardly. Shortly after the start, Alteration (M. Allen) and Jazz Heart (S. Scriven) were both tightened for room between Za Magic (G. Colless) and Dorf Command (B. Pengelly), which shifted in. Apparitions (J. Byrne) had a tendency to over- race in the early stages.

Yamarjie (M. Palmer), Walk In The Park (L. Cassidy), Vision Of Falvelon (A. Spinks) and The Grogoch (S. Galloway) raced wide for the majority of the event. Spirto Gentil lost its off-fore plate in running.

Stewards opened an inquiry into the riding tactics adopted by C. Grylls on Syndrome after that horse settled further back in the field than anticipated. C. Grylls explained that shortly after the start his mount commenced to over-race and as he believed that this would have resulted in him taking up the leading position, which he had been specifically instructed not to do. He chose to steady the horse, however Syndrome resented being restrained and lost ground sharply. Trainer M. Moroney confirmed the instructions specifically in regards to the horse leading, and added that Syndrome was a lightly raced gelding that was still learning to race.