Horses To Follow » Magic Of Light

Magic Of Light

Magic Of Light ran a big race to finish third in the Troytown Chase.

Towards the fore early on and racing along the inside, Jessica Harrington’s mare quickly settled into a nice racing rhythm for Robbie Power. Her jumping was good in the main, but she got in a little tight at the second last fence on the first circuit and, more significantly, she made a fairly bad mistake at the second fence in the back straight. That was a bad time to make a significant error, just when the pace was increasing and when track position was important. She wasn’t great at the last fence in the back straight either, with the result that she turned out of that part of the track no better than 12th or 13th. Her rider gave her some time to re-gather herself across the top of the track, and she stayed on really well up the home straight. She was never going to catch the winner Tout Est Permis, but she kept going all the way to the line, moving past Grand Partner on the run-in to take third place.

The Flemensfirth mare was a good novice chaser last season, and rounding off the term by winning a valuable mares’ handicap chase at the Punchestown Festival in April. She wore cheekpieces for the first time that day, and she wore them again on Sunday. Raised by 8lb for her Punchestown win, she proved that she was up to her new mark of 136 on Sunday. That was her first run since April, and she was weak enough in the market beforehand, so it is reasonable to expect that she can progress from it. She obviously stays three miles well, and she handles soft ground well, so she could be a mare for some of the valuable staying handicap chases through the winter.

Navan, 25th November 2018