Magic Circle going on to Busanda
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Rudy Rodriguez has given several of his top horses a break for the winter, but he will press on with Magic Circle, the third-place finisher in the Grade 2 Demoiselle. Rodriguez said the $100,000 Busanda on Jan. 23 is on her schedule.
Magic Circle finished third behind Nest and Venti Valentine in the Demoiselle, coming out under a left-handed whip and nearly interfering with Venti Valentine.
Rodriguez said owner Jeff Singer has received a few offers to buy Magic Circle, but for now, “I’m going to keep training her and point her to the [Busanda],” he said.
Rodriguez said that Bella Sofia, the Grade 1 Ballerina winner, has recently started a 60- to 90-day break on the farm. She will return to him in the first quarter of 2022. Rodriguez said the owners opted not to keep her in training for the Grade 1 La Brea at Santa Anita on Dec. 26.
“New York has some good races for her and we want to get back to the Breeders’ Cup,” Rodriguez said.
Bella Sofia ran fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint last month at Del Mar.
Rodriguez said that Doctor Jeff, winner of the Atlantic Beach Stakes, and Scuttlebuzz, winner of two allowance races at the Aqueduct fall meet, are getting a freshening for a 2022 campaign.