Magical Ways Debut Race Recap

Magical Ways' debut race recap was actually quite encouraging. Here it is:

Magical Ways Race Recap 

Magical Ways received a good racing education today at Aqueduct in his debut. It was a positive to see him break so well and show early speed while contending with racing in between rivals, which can be an intimidating position for a first-time starter. 

Your colt finished fifth in the 6 1/2-furlong race and we received positive feedback from jockey Jose Lezcano who said when the 3-year-old broke so sharply he allowed him to play a part in the early pace. 

The rider reported that Magical Ways “wasn’t really happy” with racing in between horses, yet said he liked the overall feel he received and believes the colt will improve with this race under his belt and suggested that he would do well stretching out. 

The idea behind stretching out in distance is that the early pace dynamics would likely be slower than a sprint, which in turn would allow Magical Ways to finish stronger than he did today. 

The son of Maclean’s Music was vocal in the paddock and Leana Willaford, trainer Bill Mott’s assistant, said he was simply taking in the race-day scene, which was new to him, and didn’t view it as him being overwrought or misbehaving. 

Leana reached out about 30 minutes after the race to let us know that Magical Ways had scoped clean and was cooling out well. It’s been a long time coming, but we were happy to get this start into today and look forward to seeing him back in the starting gate.