Hawthorne: Magna Fortuna's tale begins anew on Sunday

STICKNEY, Ill. – The amazing tale of the horse named Magna Fortuna begins another chapter in Sunday’s featured seventh race at Hawthorne, a second-level Illinois-bred sprint allowance race in which he faces six rivals.

Magna Fortuna is set to make the first start of his 4-year-old season and first since being sidelined following a win last May at Arlington. An injury layoff, though, is nothing compared to the dire circumstances Magna Fortuna faced in utero.

Magna Fortuna’s dam, Silver Option, might have been on her way to being slaughtered when an activist equine group, spearheaded by former trainer Gail Vacca, bought her for $300 at an Indiana horse auction in June 2009. The mare was nursed back from poor health, was found to be in foal, and the foal – Magna Fortuna – was determined to be the offspring of two registered Thoroughbreds, Silver Option and Magna Graduate. The horse was raised, broken, and sent to trainer Michele Boyce. Lo and behold, he could run a little, too.

After two sprint losses, Magna Fortuna won his maiden last March at Hawthorne by more than nine lengths, and after a poor showing a month later, he won again at Arlington. The long break between starts might have done Magna Fortuna good.

“I think this horse has improved since last year,” Boyce said. “He’s more mature, and he’s a more willing work horse. I’m looking forward to trying turf with him at some point. I think he’s a versatile little horse.”

Magna Fortuna at some point this winter might have wished he could be rescued again – this time from a brutal Chicago winter. Boyce, like the other year-round Chicago trainers, has faced an especially daunting task during the mid-winter dark period readying stock for the Hawthorne winter-spring racing season.

“I’ve been training here in the winter for I forget how many years, and it’s never been like this,” she said. “It’s tough because we’ve lost some days because of the temperature, some because of all the snow. I’ve had to alter a lot of my work schedules. I have horses now that should be ready to run that probably are two works away.”

Magna Fortuna has gotten in four works since Jan. 1, and he breezed a sharp five furlongs in 59.40 seconds Feb. 22, but Sunday’s race probably will function more than anything as a stepping-stone to a longer race.

“He’s not a sprinter, but he’s breezed sharply enough on the days when I have been able to breeze him,” Boyce said.

While Magna Fortuna has been away nine months, his Sunday rival Gita’s Mahal just raced last Sunday, winning a Hawthorne allowance after being shipped north from Fair Grounds by trainer Armando de la Cerda. His fitness advantage should go a long way.

Solar Flair has done much of his winter training in Florida for trainer Jim DiVito, and he showed sufficient talent last year to suggest he’s good enough to win.