Good Magic looks brilliant in Haskell win

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Good Magic inherited the top spot among active 3-year-olds when Triple Crown winner Justify was retired this week. On Sunday at Monmouth Park, he proved he deserves that ranking with an authoritative victory in the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Invitational.

Good Magic did everything right in the Haskell. He took up a perfect stalking position under Jose Ortiz, then took command of the 1 1/8-mile race outside pacesetting Roaming Union on the far turn. He held a four-length lead at the eighth pole and ultimately crossed the wire three lengths ahead of runner-up Bravazo.

“He broke sharply and put himself in good position on the backstretch,” Ortiz said. “He gave me a lot of options. When I asked him to go, he just exploded. When I hit him left-handed by the eighth pole, he gave me another gear. I geared him down late because we have other big races coming up.”

Good Magic paid $3 and was timed in 1:50.01. The early splits of 23.16, 46.83, 1:11.48, and 1:36.97 were realistic but not overly fast.

Bravazo ran well to be clearly second best for trainer D. Wayne Lukas and jockey Luis Saez. Bravazo basically followed the winner early but Good Magic broke the race open on the far turn with a quick burst of speed. It was six lengths back from Bravazo to Lone Sailor in third.

“My horse ran great,” Saez said. “I did everything I could to get him up. I switched to the left to see if I could get more out of him. I just lost to a better horse today.”

Core Beliefs bobbled at the start and dropped back to last position. He made a nice move past horses along the inner rail on the far turn and finished fourth, 1 1/2 lengths behind Lone Sailor, whom he had defeated by a nose in his prior start, the Ohio Derby.

Golden Brown, Roaming Union, and Navy Commander rounded out the order of finish.

The reported attendance at Monmouth on Sunday for the premier card of the season was 37,186. Total handle on the 14-race card was $13,395,279. Ontrack handle was $1,965,660.

Good Magic was voted the Eclipse Award as North America’s top male 2-year-old after his win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

He won the Blue Grass at Keeneland in April, then finished second to Justify in the Kentucky Derby. He hooked Justify on the lead in the Preakness before being outfinished in deep stretch and ending up fourth, beaten one length.

The Haskell was Good Magic’s first race in 10 weeks. Chad Brown worked him seven times during that period.

Brown said he “felt really good” about Good Magic coming into the race.

“He’d had two tough races back to back,” Brown said. “The Derby and Preakness were hard on him. But in a couple of weeks he got his weight and his energy back.”

Good Magic trained at Belmont Park for the Haskell and shipped down on race day. He will now be headed to Saratoga to train. Brown said if he does well, “we’ll run him” in the Travers.

“We freshened him, I feel he’s ready to begin a new form cycle,” Brown said. “He was very push-button today. He has agility. He has class. He put it all together today.”

The Haskell is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge series and Good Magic earned a fees-paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.

That race is also on Good Magic’s tentative schedule.

“I like that he already has had a great race at Churchill Downs going a mile and a quarter,” Brown said.

Brown and Ortiz each won four races on the 14-race Monmouth card.

Brown sent out the exacta in the Grade 3 Matchmaker, with Ortiz aboard the winner Elysea’s World. Dream Awhile finished second.

Ortiz won the $75,000 Wolf Hill on Imprimis for Joe Orseno.

Good Magic was Brown’s third starter in the Haskell. Last year he ran favored Timeline, who had a troubled trip and finished fifth, and Practical Joke, who finished a close third. The Haskell completed a Grade 1 sweep at the Monmouth meet for Brown, who won the June 30 United Nations with Funtastic.

Brown said Sunday’s Haskell win was special to him.

“I took my trainer’s test at Monmouth,” Brown said. “Monmouth has always been good to me.”

Good Magic was Ortiz’s first Haskell mount.

A son of Curlin out of two-time stakes winner Glinda the Good, Good Magic was bred by the Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings of Barbara Banke, who owns him in partnership with the e Five Racing Thoroughbreds of Bob Edwards. Banke and Edwards were both on hand for the Haskell.