The two-time Group 1 winning mare Magic Time produced an eye-catching piece of work at Cranbourne on Monday morning, with the daughter of Hellbent signalling a return is near for the ultra-consistent five-year-old.
The Grahame Begg-trained galloper had no luck towards the end of last preparation, finishing the campaign with back-to-back runner-up placings behind Belclare in the Group 2 Invitation (1400m) and Group 2 Hot Danish Stakes (1400m) respectively.
Begg was on course at Cranbourne on Monday morning to speak with Racing.com, suggesting a return to Sydney would be the likely scenario for Magic Time as she tackles the Group 2 Expressway Stakes (1200m) first-up.
“Very happy with the way she went,” said Begg.
“She really appreciated the bit of rain we got overnight. The ground was quite rain-affected, and she was very comfortable in that. She got to go through her gears nicely before her trip to Sydney.
“She’ll head up to Sydney this week and then she’ll run on the 15th in the Expressway Stakes.
“She looks as good as she’s ever looked and her two jump-outs leading into her first-up run have been really really good. We think that she’s in for a really good prep.
“Second-up she’ll run in the Canterbury Stakes (Group 1) on the eighth of March at Randwick and then we’ve got options, either to go to maybe a George Ryder (Group 1) or stick to the mares’ races.”
Magic Time is currently listed as a $6.00 chance with BlondeBet in futures markets for the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) at Randwick on March 8.
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