By Dick Jerardi
Aoife’s Magic had not raced in 14 1/2 months. The now 4-year-old filly spent a significant portion of that time in Florida after surgery to insert three screws for a stress fracture in a knee. The Pennsylvania bred daughter of new Hall of Famer Smarty Jones was in Monday’s eighth race against a very tough field of accomplished fillies and mares that included 3-5 favorite Centre Court Champ (nine firsts, nine seconds), Our Uptown Girl (11 wins, 10 seconds), and Doctor Abbie (10 wins, nine seconds).
So not an easy spot for the 2023 Parx Horse of the Year to make her 2025 debut and not an easy situation as she was going to have to chase the very fast Centre Court Champ through a major portion of the race. Well, she chased the favorite down the backstretch and around the far turn of the 6-furlong race. She finally got by her in the stretch only to be passed in the final few yards by Doctor Abbie. If ever a second-place finish felt like winning, this was it.
“I think she ran so good, she just came up a little empty at the end,” Aoife’s Magic’s trainer, David Dotolo, said. “Other than that, I can’t ask her to do much more than what she did today.”
After those months in Florida, she came back to Parx in April. At first, she wasn’t working that great. So the trainer waited.
“When she started to work like she works, I said now it’s time to push the button and get her ready to go,” Dotolo said.
You could make a case that this second-place finish under the circumstances was her best performance yet.
“She’s better now than she was before because she’s bigger, she’s stronger,” Dotolo said. “She’s just such a nice filly to work with.”
Indeed she is, especially for a filly that was purchased as a yearling by owner Art Hetherington for just $16,000 in 2022. Aoife’s Magic has now earned $319,240.
It was worth the wait, just to get her back to the races, Hetherington said. That she ran so well was a bonus.
“Dave really did a great job,” Hetherington said. “He took his time, he made sure she was working well. It’s been hard to get a race for her. They didn’t fill. This one was a tough race, but she ran really, really well.”
So owner and trainer are eagerly awaiting the filly’s next start which Dotolo plans on being in the Oct. 22 $75,000 Disco Chick Stakes for PA bred and PA sired females at 7 furlongs.
They also can’t wait to see Aoife’s Magic’s full sister, Polar Magic, make her debut. That could come as soon as next week in a maiden race for 2-year-olds.
“I’m a little more of a realist than Dave is,” Hetherington said. “I have to say I’m nervous about her. Dave thinks she could be as good if not better than Aoife. If that’s true, I’ll be ecstatic. But at the same time, you have to be a little more cautious. I mean, I’m the owner, so the owner is always the ‘that’s probably not going to happen type of guy.'”
It did happen once. So perhaps it can happen again.
Aoife’s Magic has not won since her magical 2-year-old season when she went 4-for-4. But if her first race back after all that time off for surgery, rehab, and training is any indication, it won’t be too long until she gets her picture taken after a race again.
