Magic Time made the quantum leap from a maiden win on the Pakenham Synthetic on debut to a dominant performance in the Listed The Amanda Elliott (1400m) on Champions Day at Flemington to become the first stakes-winner for Yarraman Park Stud's Hellbent.
Caught three deep the trip from an outside barrier, Jordan Childs had the Grahame Begg-trained filly travelling sweetly on the bridle.
When Childs asked for an effort, he received an immediate response but found a willing foe in Godolphin's Lonhro colt Atmosphere.
The daughter of Hellbent gradually drew three-quarters of a length clear of Atmosphere with the No Nay Never (USA) filly Get Up Girl back in third.
“She’s a very nice filly. I know she’s only come off a synthetic maiden win that she won by five (lengths) and the filly that ran second to her won by ten last night so it kind of franked the form a little bit,” Begg said.
“Very understated and we’ve given her plenty of time to mature. John Muir and Trish Muir, they’ll be over the moon. John is in Kentucky at the Broodmare Sale. He rang me this morning and said that it’ll be about 12:50am over there so I he might have a nice little message on his phone when he wakes up.
“We just rode her like the best horse in the race at Pakenham. The smaller field, but we didn’t want any bad luck, so we decided to take luck out of the equation today.
“We drew a bit of a tricky gate, so we had to roll the dice and go forward. As it worked out, he was able to go three wide with no cover. Bloody good effort, second start in a race to be able to beat the colts and now she’s a listed winner.”
“She might have a break because she’s only lightly raced, and we’ll let things work out.”
Childs said the Hellbent filly had few favours in the run.
“She always gave me a nice feel throughout the race. I didn’t have much luck from the gate getting in and getting cover but I just kept her nice and comfortable and when she was traveling into the straight as easy as she was, when I pressed the button she reeled them in,” Childs said.
“We haven’t got to the bottom of her yet. She won her first start impressively and came out today and backed it up.
“Obviously it is a big step up from the maiden to coming here on a Saturday in a listed race, and to get the result, the world is her oyster.”
Magic Time carries the colours of her breeder, John Muir's Milburn Creek Thoroughbred Stud, after failing to make her $150,000 reserve at the 2021 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
She is the first foal of the stakes-winning Nicconi mare Time Awaits, who won the Group III SA Sires' Produce Stakes and Listed Cinderella Stakes at Morphettville for Tony McEvoy.
Belmont Bloodstock Agency (FBAA) shelled out $300,000 for Time Awaits from Edinburgh Park draft at the 2018 National Broodmare Sale.
Time Awaits is one of three named foals for Bon Ton (Danzero), a daughter of the Group II WATC Western Australian Oaks and Listed WATC Helena Vale Cup winner Mystic Chantry.
Proven Thoroughbreds / Pride Racing paid $220,000 for Time Awaits' Zoustar colt at the 2022 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale.
Time Awaits has a yearling colt by Dundeel and foaled a Maurice (JPN) colt on October 14, the day Magic Time broke her maiden.
With his first crop of three-year-olds, Hellbent has made a quick start to the season with Hell Hath No Fury, Hell Queen, Divine Fury and Awestruck all earning black-type in the first few weeks of the season.
