Mohawk: Bee A Magician faces tall task in Peaceful Way final

Few experiences in harness racing can equal the eternal hope associated with owning a potential top 2-year-old. From the moments before the sale until their first few races, owners can only dream of owning a horse as good as Bee A Magician, who will line up in post 3 for the $435,000 Peaceful Way final on Saturday at Mohawk Racetrack.

Bee A Magician, who is owned by Melvin Hartman, Herb Liverman, and David Mc Duffee, was a healthy $90,000 yearling buy at Harrisburg in November of last year. Hopes are always high for a youngster of that price but things appeared iffy at the start.

“She was one of my favorite picks, but she was tricky to break in,” said trainer Richard Norman. “We weren’t sure what we would get because she has some attitude issues.”

Fortunately, once Bee A Magician was placed on the track for pari-mutuel action she got right to business. A smooth qualifier was followed by a victory in an Ontario Sire Stakes elimination. From there, with the exception of a break in her next start, the trotting filly has been nearly perfect, winning five of her subsequent six starts, including her last four.

Although Bee A Magician has earned over $230,000 to date, her most arduous test will come on Saturday when she faces the undefeated super-filly To Dream On. The Jimmy Takter-trained daughter of Credit Winner has hardly had an anxious moment in any of her five wins.

“Obviously To Dream On is a very good filly,” said Norman. “I don’t expect to beat her, but I think we could if things go our way. A lot of times the winner is whoever benefitted from the trip.”

Other than To Dream On, Bee A Magician’s main roadblock to the winner’s circle could be her racing style. In an era when speed is tough to defeat in major stakes, the daughter of Kadabra has never displayed the propensity to leave fast off the gate. Norman feels that his talented student might have that attribute in her bag of tricks but he wouldn’t commit to her performing that act on Saturday.

“We have raced her from the back to protect her and I think we should stick to that plan,” said Norman. “I know [early speed] is there, we just really don’t want to use it. Horses last a lot longer when raced from off the pace.”

If not on Saturday, perhaps Norman will unleash her speed in the Breeders Crown on Oct. 27 at Woodbine Racetrack. The divisional championship is one of two definite dates remaining on Bee a Magician’s schedule, with the other being the Ontario Sire Stakes Finals in November.

The Peaceful Way is scheduled as race 3 on a power-packed 13-race Mohawk card. The $1,000,000 Canadian Trotting Classic is the featured event.

Post time is 7:10 p.m. Eastern.