Del Mar: Starlight Magic rallies to win Fleet Treat Stakes

DEL MAR, Calif. – Well rested since her last race, Starlight Magic won her first stakes since October in Saturday’s $200,000 Fleet Treat Stakes for California-bred 3-year-old fillies at Del Mar.

Starlight Magic ($8.40) won the seven-furlong Fleet Treat by a half-length over 11-1 Warren’s Amber. Willa B Awesome, winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks in March, could only finish third as the 3-2 favorite.

Willa B Awesome raced alongside Starlight Magic on the turn, but could not keep pace in the final furlong.

Starlight Magic was timed in 1:23.57 and gave jockey Rafael Bejarano his second stakes win in as many days. He won the Cougar II Handicap on Friday with Richard’s Kid.

In the Fleet Treat Stakes, Starlight Magic was seventh early, racing on the inside. Racing off the rail on the turn, she rallied between fillies in early stretch to reach contention.

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“I tried to keep her in the clear,” Bejarano said.

Owned by Cory Wagner and trained by Mark Glatt, Starlight Magic has won 4 of 9 starts and $322,900.

The winner of the California Cup Juvenile Fillies, Starlight Magic was fifth in the Grade 2 Hollywood Oaks at Betfair Hollywood Park on June 23. She won an allowance race June 7, and Glatt said the relatively quick turnaround between those two races worked against Starlight Magic.

A filly by Marino Marini, Starlight Magic could return in the $100,000 Torrey Pines Stakes for 3-year-old fillies over a mile on Sept. 2.