Tom’s Magic hastens slow pace, wins by head in Breeders’ Stakes
After growing weary of the slow early pace, jockey Rafael Hernández pushed the button on Tom’s Magic midway through the 1 1/2-mile, US$287,256 Breeders’ Stakes. The odds-on favorite responded by forcing the pace, taking the lead late and then holding on to prevail by a head Sunday at Woodbine in the last race of the 2025 Canadian Triple Crown.
The Justify colt trained by Michael Stidham for owners CJ Thoroughbreds and Mo Speed Racing came back from a second-place finish on the Woodbine synthetic last month in the King’s Plate, the first Canada classic of the year. He gave Hernández a fourth victory in the turf race which was run for the 135th time.
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Coming into the race for Canada-bred 3-year-olds, Tom’s Magic (3-5) had won a black-type stakes this year at Fair Grounds and another at Monmouth Park. He started Sunday’s race traveling in the middle of the nine-horse pack. D’aurum (70-1) set the slow early pace with fractions of 23.71, 50.08 and 1:18.14.
Hernández decided to speed things up as the field finished the second of three turns.
“The pace was too slow,” Hernández said. “We were just galloping, just walking. I was fighting to keep him in behind. He got on the bridle really hard.”
Hernández got Tom’s Magic to press the pace up the backstretch through a mile in 1:44.36 and around the final turn with the first 10 furlongs going in 2:07.97.
Tom’s Magic took the lead for good in the upper stretch, but he could not completely shake off Borealis Trail (8-1). Also content to be in mid-pack early, José Santos rallied Borealis Trail into second place and was making up ground before the finish line arrived just in time for Tom’s Magic to win.
The final time was 2:31.80 on the firm inner-turf course.
“We were certainly worried with the way the race was going to set up pace-wise.” Stidham said. “Tom’s Magic can be a little bit keen. The only thing I stressed to Rafael was we’ve got to get him to turn off at some point down the backside, so he will have something to finish with. It was a little bit close, but it showed his courage and ability to get it done.”
Borealis Trail finished second, Faber (11-1) third and Aristella (8-1) fourth.
Tom’s Magic paid $3.50, $2.60 and $2.10; Borealis Trail $5.80 and $4.00; and Faber $4.10.
Bought as a yearling for $200,000, Tom’s Magic is 7: 4-2-0 with all his wins coming on turf.
The Canadian Triple Crown began Aug. 16 with Mansetti winning the 166th edition of The King’s Plate on the Woodbine synthetic surface. Runaway Again took the second jewel in the series, the Prince of Wales Stakes, on Sept. 9 on the dirt at Fort Erie.
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