DANCE Magic's win in Saturday's Easter Cup effectively ended the race for the Moruya Horse of the Year title, while giving more credence to claims of a champion in the making.
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The Mark Macdonald-trained mare had already won twice on the track this season, including the 1650m Class Three event on March 27, and Saturday's run gives the four-year-old three wins with only the July 5 meeting left before August 1.
It was also an ideal introduction to the Open class race after stepping up from Class Three.
Jockey Jamie Whitney piloted Dance Magic to the lead 350m out from the finishing post and ran away from a classy field to win by
three lengths.
Wayne Davey's Tristrolly ran on for second place while Bede Murray's Raysee finished third, closely followed by Chika Pearson's Top Shot.
Defending Easter Cup champion Meccatuna finished fifth, despite trainer Rado Boljun indicating on Thursday that the horse would not run due to a heavy handicap of 59.5kg and a lack of available apprentices to ride in the race.
Boljun brought the horse down from Canberra after a Saturday morning request by Meccatuna's owners to contest the race regardless of the circumstances and veteran jockey Ray Silburn was engaged to ride the horse.
Bill Williams' Brave Running took the early lead in the Easter Cup, with Tristrolly and Raysee sitting off the pace just ahead of Dance Magic, which moved into the lead after the field turned into the straight.
A happy Macdonald said the race developed exactly as he had hoped, with Whitney perfectly timing the charge to the finish line.
"Our plan was exactly what happened," he said.
"The horse that led (Brave Running) always goes out and tries to get the speed up, so we wanted to sit second off that and it worked.
"She (Dance Magic) was too good in the straight."
Macdonald said he was not surprised the mare performed so well in her first step up into the Open class.
"The horse has got a fair bit of ability, which has been shown since the time she was broken in," he said.
"She won her first start at Nowra, which was a pretty good win, and she just needs to get some racing behind her.
After Dance Magic recovers from Saturday's run, Macdonald said he and the horse's owners would look for a start in Sydney, most likely a fillies and mares race.
"If everything goes alright we'll look to take her to town in a suitable race," he said.
"We'll just see how she pulls up."
Saturday's five-event card was a good one for the Moruya racing community, with local horses winning all five races.
John Marzol's Autumn Prince won the first maiden plate, Davey's Dandy Jester and Elasticity the Class Two and Class One handicaps, respectively, while Pearson's
Mr Dean claimed the second
maiden plate.