Magic in the Big Red
Skills in Magic vaulted into the number two rating as a three year old classic turfer by overcoming a strong field an and early speed bias to win the Grade I Big Red Stakes for three year old going a mile and a quarter on a firm Illinois turf course.
The Peeps9 trained colt missed the stakes record by two fifths of a second while becoming only the second colt to win the stakes by coming from off the pace. He paid $18.50, $9.60, and $7.60.
The early pace was contested by the BTB handicapper’s pick Quitter’s Town Prince and Simsters8’s Rosenthal, but after a mile they were both overtaken by the winner and by Lenny28’s number one rated Creepshow. With the place finish, Creepshow maintained his division leading ranking.
The favorite in the race, the filly Dance Seeker, out of the Rockriver barn, seemed overmatched by her male opponents and finished a distant ninth.
In other changes in the rankings, the number 6 ranked Very Silver fell to 7th, while Town Prince moved up from 10th to 9th.