Promising Magic Quest finally gets chance to show her stuff

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Magic Quest has been away more than 13 months, but it didn’t have to be that long. Following entry-box misadventures at Ellis Park and Kentucky Downs, the 4-year-old filly will finally get to run Sunday at Churchill Downs.

“We entered at Ellis Park and the race didn’t fill,” said Rusty Arnold, who trains Magic Quest for longtime client G. Watts Humphrey Jr. “Then we had her in at Kentucky Downs, but that was one of the days they canceled. We had her back in there again, but she got stuck on the also-eligibles.”

Magic Quest has been a filly worth waiting on. The homebred daughter of Nyquist was stylish earning 82 Beyer Speed Figures in back-to-back victories last summer before finishing second by just a length, with an 87 Beyer, to then-unbeaten Carribean Caper in the Audubon Oaks at Ellis.

Magic Quest “had an injury that required surgery following the Ellis race,” Arnold said. “But everything went very well, and she’s been ready to run for well over a month. We’d always thought she was one of our better young fillies. Hopefully, we’ve got her ready to go.”

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Magic Quest, with James Graham riding, will break from post 4 in the eighth of 10 races, a $134,000, second-level allowance going six furlongs. Her main opposition appears to be Chasing Fireflies, expected to scratch from the Dogwood the previous day, along with Republique and Promises to Dance.

A second allowance that co-anchors a card that starts at 12:45 p.m. Eastern directly follows as race 9. It also goes at the same six-furlong distance with the identical purse and conditions, albeit with nine well-matched male runners clashing in one of the deeper races of the afternoon. High Standard, Spankster, Silk Trade, and Girolamo’s Attack figure as lukewarm favorites.

More ideal early-autumn weather is in store for Sunday, after which Churchill will go dark for two days before the final five-day race week begins Wednesday at the 14-day, dirt-only September meet. Closing day is Oct. 2, with Keeneland starting its fall meet Oct. 7.

Lukas Classic up ahead

Hot Rod Charlie and 2022 Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike are among the confirmed starters for the highlight of closing weekend, the Grade 2, $500,000 Lukas Classic next Saturday, but a decision on whether or not another big-name prospect, Art Collector, will be sent here from Saratoga won’t be made until early in the week by Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, according to owner Bruce Lunsford.

Art Collector, whose last-out romp in the Aug. 26 Charles Town Classic lifted his career bankroll to more than $2.3 million from 19 starts, was scheduled to breeze over the weekend. If he doesn’t run in the 1 1/8-mile Lukas, he’ll go instead in the Grade 1, $500,000 Woodward going the same distance on the same day at the Belmont at the Big A meet, Lunsford said. Either way, Luis Saez has the mount.

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