Vega Magic Is The Goodwood Winner

Vega Magic made his debut for Lindsay Park with an outstanding victory in the 2017 The Goodwood at Morphettville this afternoon.

Vega Magic, above in blue and pink colours, wins The Goodwood at Morphettville. Photo by Jenny Barnes.

Vega Magic, above in blue and pink colours, wins The Goodwood at Morphettville. Photo by Jenny Barnes.

Vega Magic was sent to Lindsay Park after he won two races during the 2016 Perth Summer Racing Carnival and there was big move for the Lope De Vega gelding following a dominant jump-out victory.

There were chances spread right across the track in the final stages of The Goodwood, but jockey Craig Williams timed his run to perfection on Vega Magic and he burst from the pack with 100 metres left to run to score an impressive win.

Co-trainer David Hayes said that he went into The Goodwood full of confidence that Vega Magic would get the job done and he revealed that the $10 million The Everest could be a target for the four-year-old in the Spring.

“You can’t be too confident in a Goodwood of this class, but I thought that he had a fair bit of the Redkirk Warrior’s about him before he won the Newmarket,” Hayes said.

“The trackwork he was doing he just had to be an outstanding horse.

“He trialed so well we were confident that we had him right and he is a bit athletic horse.

“He came over from Perth about ten weeks ago in great order and it was a pleasure to get a horse of this class.

“We will probably back off him, but I reckon he will be an ideal horse for The Everest.

“There might be somebody out there that has a ticket that might want to share with us.

“It is a good mountain to climb.”

Williams timed his run to perfection on Vega Magic to win The Goodwood, but he was quick to pay credit to the training performance of David Hayes as well as his training partners Tom Dabernig and Ben Hayes.

“David Hayes and his team gave me the opportunity to get a feel for this horse when he arrived over,” Williams said.

“They were really happy with the way that he settled into Euroa and then they brought him to Flemington and I just loved the way that he went.

“It was a great training effort.

“He gave me a lovely ride throughout, he is very professional and he is very exciting for us over here on the Eastern side – like a Black Heart Bart.”

Missrock produced a career best performance to finish a gallant second as did country galloper Casino Wizard, who flew down the outside in the final stages of the race.

About The Author

Thomas Hackett

Thomas is a passionate and opinionated racing journalist and punter who has been obsessed with horse racing since he backed Saintly to win the 1996 Melbourne Cup. An international racing enthusiast, he has his finger on the pulse of racing news not just from Australia but all around the world.