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Street Magician conjures up win in Hirsch Jacobs

Street Magician (inside) bounced his way in front of Southwestern Heat in the Hirsch Jacobs (Lauren Pomeroy/Horsephotos.com) R. Larry Johnson's homebred STREET MAGICIAN (Street Cry [Ire]) had to perform a few tricks to get up in time in Saturday's $100,000 Hirsch Jacobs S. (G3) at Pimlico, but the Michael Trombetta sophomore proved to be a clever conjurer. In the process, the bay got Preakness Day off to an auspicious start for his sire, Street Cry (Ire), whose champion son Street Sense would later finish second in the middle jewel of the Triple Crown. Jockey Rafael Bejarano allowed Street Magician to settle far off the pace as Southwestern Heat (Gone West), the first foal of champion filly Xtra Heat, sprinted to the fore. Blazing up the track in a manner reminiscent of his famous dam, Southwestern Heat tore off alone through splits of :22 3/5 and :45. The rest of the field appeared to be run off their feet, except for Street Magician, who commenced a purposeful rally at the top of the stretch. Southwestern Heat maintained a five-length advantage in midstretch, but he began to tire, and Street Magician became a serious menace. As Bejarano opted to thread the needle along the rail with the eventual winner, a rubber-legged Southwestern Heat drifted back inward, and his hind end collided with Street Magician, who in turn bounced off the rail like a pinball. Unfazed by the jolt, Street Magician quickly regrouped, and as his rival wandered outside, he shot through the fresh gap to win by a length in a final time of 1:10 4/5 for six furlongs on the fast track. Dispatched as the 9-5 favorite, the winner paid $5.60, $3.60 and $2.80.

"It really wasn't planned to be that far off the early pace, but we just didn't get the best of breaks," Bejarano explained. "Once this colt got going, he ran his race. Things got pretty close down the lane when the other horse was coming in a little bit, but my horse didn't overly react."

"I'm tickled to death to be able to run (Southwestern Heat) down," Trombetta said. "Today, this horse showed versatility he'd never shown before. I'm not sure if he's a two-turn horse yet, but this was something encouraging."

Southwestern Heat was 2 1/2 lengths ahead of his nearest pursuer, returning $6.60 and $5 at 9-1 and ending the $60.40 exacta. The 7-1 Hobbitontherocks (Lion Hearted) closed for third to give back $4.20 and round out the $315.40 trifecta. Heart Throbbin' (Formal Gold) checked in fourth as the longest shot on the board at nearly 20-1, resulting in a 5-1-6-3 superfecta good for $1,527.80. Like Mom Like Sons (Carson City) came next, followed by Finallymadeit (Concerto) and Stormin Baghdad (Stormin Fever). Sports Town (Belong to Me) was scratched after his impressive victory in Wednesday's Ogygian S. at Belmont Park.

Street Magician improved his record to 5-3-0-1 with $165,720 in his account. After breaking his maiden by eight lengths in his second career start at Gulfstream Park, he successfully stepped up into stakes company and ground out a half-length score in the Aventura S. Street Magician faded to fifth after dueling for the early lead in the one-mile Withers S. (G3) last time out, prompting the cut-back in trip here.

The Kentucky-bred winner was produced by the unraced Meadowlake mare Magical Meadow, who has an unraced juvenile filly named Miz Magician (Mizzen Mast) and an unnamed yearling filly by More Than Ready.

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