Living Magic upsets Chelsey Flower

Living Magic, overlooked at 16-1 since his previous turf start was not a good one, wore down favorite Ozara in deep stretch to win Friday’s $135,000 Chelsey Flower Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths at Aqueduct.

Ozara, who didn’t change leads in the stretch under Dylan Davis, held second by 1 1/2 lengths over Gold Lightning.

The win was the third from six starts for Living Magic, a 2-year-old daughter of Justify owned and bred by HnR Northhaft Horse Racing and trained by Maryland-based Phil Schoenthal.

Living Magic’s lone start on turf resulted in a seventh-place finish in the Catch a Glimpse Stakes at Woodbine in August. Schoenthal said that Living Magic had come out of that race “full of mucus,” so he threw the race out.

Living Magic came out of that race to run a solid second in the Presque Isle Debutante going 6 1/2 furlongs over a synthetic surface on Sept. 25.

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On Friday, Living Magic, under Ruben Silvera, sat second, just off the pacesetting Red Burgundy, who, under Trevor McCarthy, set fractions of 23.88 seconds for the quarter, 49.42 for the half, and 1:13.92 for six furlongs.

Ozara, who sat third early, advanced into second approaching the quarter pole, but Silvera had his filly re-engage and she was able to outfinish Ozara late.

"It was her first time at the distance, so I tried to rate and save for the end,” Silvera told the New York Racing Association publicity.

Schoenthal, in a post-race interview with Maggie Wolfendale, credited Antonio Gallardo, the previous rider of Living Magic, with teaching the filly to relax in her previous two starts.

“She did that today,” Schoenthal said. “When she turned for home and it looked like [Silvera] had horse, I got pretty excited there.”

Living Magic, a daughter of 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify, covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.65 over the inner turf course and returned $35.80 to win.

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