Twelve years after Mid Summer Music scaled the heights in the Group 1 Stradbroke Hcp, her 3-year-old daughter Stefi Magnetica equalled the feat in the $3,000,000 feature at Eagle Farm.
Eleven months after breaking her maiden at Wellington in country NSW, the Bjorn Baker-trained daughter of All Too Hard received a Group 1 ride by Zac Lloyd to defeat the painfully courageous Pride Of Dubai mare Bella Nipotina by a half-neck with the Hallowed Crown gelding Vilana two lengths back in third.
Stefi Magnetica rose to fame similarly to her dam Mid Summer Music, who broke her maiden as a 4-year-old in February 2010 when she was a 5-length winner of a Warracknabeal maiden.
It was only due to the persistence of Linda Meech that her career did not end there. The daughter of Oamaru Force still had plenty to do to make a believer in Peter Moody, who was her greatest fan by the time she headed to the broodmare paddock with four stakes wins highlighted by her defeat of Buffering in the 2012 Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap.
“She’s an amazing filly. She won a Wellington two-year-old race at the back end of the season, she won a BM58 at Orange in December, and she was just chinned in the Surround," Clarke recounted.
“Bjorn opted to give her a short break and set her for the winter. Her run in the 10 000 was amazing. She was in the wrong part of the track, I think everyone saw that.
“It was an amazing ride there. To win Queensland’s greatest race with a filly that Gary and Mitch Cunningham bought as a yearling and trained by one of my best mates and one of my best supporters in Bjorn, is the biggest thrill of my career, and I’m just so pleased.”
It was the first Group 1 for an emotional Zac Llolyd.
“I was fine the whole time cantering back, but to see my dad has got me emotional,” Lloyd said.
“I was very confident pre-race. She galloped enormous on Tuesday. My dad and I went through the race thoroughly and we honestly thought we were on the right horse. The first furlong or two went perfect. She was in a good rhythm, she wasn’t overracing.
“Just as a couple of horses started dropping back in our face I had to make a decision to go around with the pack but I ultimately thought there’d be too much traffic so I thought I was travelling so well I was happy to go inside of them.
“She was tough. I saw Bella Nipotina and I thought that was one horse you don’t want to be in a finish with, but she was great.
“It is really good just to get that group one on my resume. I’ve had some great opportunities in the past year or so and I haven’t been able to capitalise. To get the job done today in a very big race, it is very special.”
A $140,000 purchase for Cunningham Thoroughbreds/Clarke Bloodstock Pty Ltd (FBAA)/Bjorn Baker Racing from the Cressfield draft at the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Stefi Magnetica advances her record to three wins, two seconds, and four thirds from 13 starts with earnings of $2,125,800.
A half-sister to the Group III MVRC Typhoon Tracy Stakes winner Hellfest (Hellbent), and stakes-placed winner Euphoric Summer (Not a Single Doubt), Stefi Magnetica is the best of five winners from as many to race for Mid Summer Music.
Sent to the 2013 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale, Mid Summer Music was purchased by Tyreel Stud for $300,000.
Covered by All Too Hard, she was back in the ring a year later at the Inglis Easter Broodmare Sale, where Bruce Perry Bloodstock purchased her on behalf of Cressfield Stud for $375,000.
Scott Waters shelled out $100,000 for Mid Summer Music’s Bivouac filly from the Cressfield draft at the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Mid Summer Music revisited All Too Hard last spring, having missed to him in 2022.
Stefi Magnetica is the 25th stakes-winner and fifth Group 1 winner for Vinery Stud’s All Too Hard, who stands for $38,500 in 2024.
