The Stone, Calder combo is ‘So Magnificent’
Veteran jockey Everton Stone and trainer Linton Calder made it a quick double with So Magnificent in a three-year-old and upward Optional Claiming ($250,000-$200,000) spread on Saturday, March 16, 2024.
The race, which also included six-year-olds and upward (non-winners of three) and native-bred five-year-olds (maidens), was contested over 7 furlongs (1,400m).
Also owned by Calder, So Magnificent was slowly out of the box at the start of the race and raced way behind the leaders.
Thunderstrike (Raddesh Roman) led the field ahead of Dancinginthebreeze (Daniel Thompson), Biblical Legend (Roger Hewit), and Sunshine Cat (Robert Halledeen) down the backstretch.
So Magnificent continued to labour closer to the back of the field when the leaders upped the tempo, navigating the half-mile (800m) turn but made improvement approaching the distance.
So Magnificent, who hugged the inside rails, cutting the turn entering the straight, produced a strong run in deep stretch to win the race by 3 ½ lengths at odds of 11-1.
Finishing second was Biblical Legend and third was Mule Train (Richard Byrd). The winning time was 1:33.1 (25.2 x 50.3 x 1:17.0). The seven-year-old bay mare had just released the maiden on March 2 over 5 ½ furlongs (1,100m).