Magician Sister Wins US Grade Three

A full sister to dual Grade I winner and promising young sire Magician, Apple Betty (4m Galileo x Absolutelyfabulous, by Mozart) scored a career best win in the $125,000 Grade III Rood and Riddle Dowager Stakes at Keeneland on Sunday. Beaten a nose in this race last year, the Shug McGaughey trained daughter of Galileo coasted home to win the one and a half mile turf feature by three and a half lengths. “When I ran her at Saratoga (in the Aug. 5 Waya-G3), I ran her back too quick, and she got pushed along a little bit,” explained McGaughey. “We gave her the break with this race in mind. She had trained really strong. My main concern is just getting her to settle. There was some speed in here, so she was able to lay in behind. You just gotta let her do her thing. She was in behind horses today, and the way he (jockey John Velazquez) was able to wait for that hole and be able to finish was a big key.” It was her third stakes win, although first in a Graded race, and takes her overall record to five wins and five placings from 14 starts. Raced by Joseph Allen, Apple Betty is a full sister to Grade I Breeders Cup Turf and Irish Two Thousand Guineas winner Magician as well as stakes-winner Outstanding being from good producing stakes-winner Absolutelyfabulous. Magician stands at Ashford Stud and has his first yearlings selling this year.