Magic City Classic once again looks like Buggin Out's domain
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There’s historical dispute regarding the origin of the proverb, “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king,” but there’s no disputing its relevance to a horse named Buggin Out.
Buggin Out is a 7-year-old gelding by Indy and trained now by Ronnie Ward. All well and good, but the important piece of information on his page is “Alabama.” That’s where Buggin Out was bred. There hasn’t been sanctioned Thoroughbred racing in Alabama since 1995; Buggin Out is one of the last vestiges of the breeding program there.
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If you own an Alabama-bred (you don’t, do you?) there’s one major annual goal, the $50,000 Magic City Classic. The 2018 renewal comes Friday at Fair Grounds. Which means it’s the king’s time to don his crown.
Buggin Out won his first Magic City Classic as a 3-year-old in 2014. He won it in 2015, again in 2016, and for a fourth time last December. And if you think the streak ends this year, well, take a look at the competition in Friday’s 10th race. Yeah – about what one would expect from a state without a Thoroughbred industry.
Ward and owner Dennis Murphy appear to know the score. The older Buggin Out has gotten the less they’ve run him, gearing his campaigns around “The Big One.” In 2016, Buggin Out returned from an eight-month layoff to make one start at Delta Downs before winning the Magic City. Last year, Buggin Out got in one race following a nine-month break, and this year Buggin Out got in an Oct. 27 Delta prep making his first start since the 2017 Magic City. He finished a distant seventh, but that was an open fourth-level allowance with a $30,000 claiming option. Friday’s race? That is Buggin Out’s domain.
