Two-way star Maryland Magic wins first career stakes race at Ajax Downs
Published September 9, 2021 at 9:27 am
Seven-year-old stallion Maryland Magic, the rare two-way star who works his magic in the stud barn and on the track, was the upset winner Wednesday in the third leg of the $20,760 QROOI Sprint Series at Ajax Downs.
The handsome son of U.S. stallion Pyc Paint Your Wagon, who faithfully performs his stud duties each spring before returning to racing, was quick out of the gate under jockey Ismael Mosquiera on Wednesday, dueling stablemate Carneros briefly before edging clear to win by three-quarters of a length over Jess a Sweet Suprize.
Even-money favourite Jess a Sweet Suprize won the first two legs of the Series. Carneros was a nose back in third.
The time for the 250-yard race was 13.044 for a 105-speed index and Maryland Magic paid $9.60 to win as the third choice among betters.
Owned by Milena Kwiecien of Burlington and trained by Jason Pascoe of Pontypool, Maryland Magic was making his first appearance in the Sprint Series in 2021 and had only raced as short as 250 yards once in his previous 39 races, a fourth-place finish in his debut in 2016.
It was his first career stakes victory.
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“I had always ridden against him,” said Mosquiera, who admitted he was a “little scared” of the competition and the short distance. “But on post parade he was very sharp. He broke on top and never came back.”
Maryland Magic now has 12 victories in 40 career races and earnings of more than $127,000. He also has a pair of two year-old winners this year from his first four foals to race.
Jess A Sweet Suprize, a five-year-old mare owned and trained by Craig Spada, will be honoured as the series champion at the annual awards dinner early in 2022 with two wins and a second in the three-race Sprint Series.
Jockey Cory Spataro, of Innisfil, continues his hot streak in the saddle with his second consecutive four-win day. He has ridden eight winners in the last 18 races and his 22 victories leads all jockeys 13 race dates into the season.
Racing continues at Ajax Downs on a Wednesday schedule through November 3 but post time for the first race will be 12:55 p.m. beginning September 15. Next week’s feature is the final of the $60,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Futurity for 2-year-olds.
Photo by Clive Cohen, New Image Media
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