*Article by Michael Manley for racing.com
The switch in dates for the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes from September to next Saturday and an enticing weight are the reasons Grahame Begg’s talented mare Magic Time will be in action at Caulfield.
Begg is hoping a spring where he feels he has “fallen off a cliff” can be turned around as he will also be represented in the Group 1 Thousand Guineas with Carina Queen.
He lost stable stars Nonconformist and Lunar Flare to injuries during a spring which he said had been character building.
Begg said the prospect of running Magic Time in a Group 1 race where she will carry the minimum weight of 53 kilos was something he couldn’t turn down.
He took Magic Time to Sydney for her previous two starts, which produced a win in the Group 3 Nivison Stakes at Rosehill and then a third in The Invitation at Randwick.
“This race wasn’t on the radar early. I felt with 53 kilos it’s an opportunity to get into a big handicap on the limit weight,” Begg said.
He said Magic Time had always shown talent in her brief career where she has won four of her seven starts.
Magic Time is $3.60 favourite with Sportsbet to win the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes.
Begg has booked Michael Dee to ride Magic Time and Jamie Kah for Carina Queen.
Carina Queen won at Sandown two starts ago and then she finished third behind Skybird in the Moonee Valley Fillies Classic over 1600 metres.
“She’s in good shape. She may have felt the track a bit last start,” he said.
Magic Time is a WBF Early Education Graduate