Stefi Magnetica: It’s all in the name for Stradbroke filly
She’s named after her biggest fan, but three-year-old filly Stefi Magnetica will have plenty more if she secures a Stradbroke start by winning Saturday’s Fred Best Classic at Eagle Farm.
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Fred Best Classic contender and Stradbroke Handicap hopeful Stefi Magnetica is named after her biggest fan.
And the boom three-year-old filly will have plenty more fans if all goes to plan on Saturday at Eagle Farm and in the $3m Group 1 Stradbroke next month.
The filly, who ran a huge race to flash home for fifth in the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 after being a surprise starter, is owned by Cunningham Thoroughbreds, who were the original managing owners of crack colt Storm Boy.
Mitchell Cunningham is the boss of the family-owned business and his wife Stephanie has extra reason to cheer loudly for Bjorn Baker-trained Stefi Magnetica.
BELLA NIPOTINA WINS THE DOOMBEN 10,000!
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 18, 2024
In a cracking finish, she defeats the favourite I Wish I Win right on the line!
What a mare she is, and now takes her earnings closer to $10 million 👠pic.twitter.com/Rt25A4uCK5
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“Most of our horses are named after family members or other names that are known within our family,” Mitchell Cunningham said.
“Stephanie is my wife and she’s a magnetic character so we named the horse after her.
“The filly seems like she is appropriately named.
“From how this filly started as a pre-Christmas two-year-old, she has not been without bad luck, but her form has been exponentially improving every preparation.
“People were aghast to see she was going first-up into the Doomben 10,000 with her rating.
“But we were all pretty confident she was going to run a big race, and she did.”
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The Group 3 Fred Best (1400m) offers the winner a golden ticket into the Stradbroke Handicap but there is a decent chance Stefi Magnetica might nail a spot in the Stradbroke field anyway.
She is currently number 24 in the ballot order for the 18-horse Stradbroke field and with several others ahead of her not likely to line up, she is very close to securing a spot through natural attrition.
Stefi Magnetica is the daughter of a Stradbroke winner in Mid Summer Music, who won for Peter Moody in 2012.
She has only had 11 starts in her young career but is already Group 1 placed, finishing runner-up behind Tropical Squall in the Group 1 Surround Stakes at Randwick in March.
Tropical Squall and Adam Hyeronimus combine to win the Surround Stakes, adding another group 1 win to the @GaiWaterhouse1-Bott stable! 🆠pic.twitter.com/qJ09QCGjrl
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) March 2, 2024
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If she qualifies for the Stradbroke, Stefi Magnetica will carry just 49.5kg and be aiming to join the likes of La Montagna and Private Steer to win the Stradbroke as a three-year-old filly.
“Her mother is a Stradbroke winner, so she has got the bloodlines,” Cunningham said.
“Our family hasn’t had a Stradbroke runner before and, as Queenslanders, it is the race we want to win.
“She is a filly with a lot of ability, she is a real trier and she has got a great constitution and a great attitude to racing.
“She is one of those horses we don’t know what her ceiling is going to be but we can be sure she has got a hell of a lot of grunt to her, they are the sort of fillies you want to be racing.
“On Saturday, the Fred Best looks to be a decent race this year.
“But I think ‘Stefi’ is going enormous.”
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Stefi Magnetica is a $15 chance in next month’s Stradbroke and those odds could be slashed to single figures if she wins the Fred Best in dominant fashion on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Cunningham has given an update on crack colt and Gold Coast Magic Millions winner Storm Boy in whom the Cunninghams retain a share after a whopping sale deal to Coolmore.
“Storm Boy is in pre-training at the moment and heading for the (Group 1) Golden Rose,” Cunningham said.
Originally published as Stefi Magnetica: It’s all in the name for Stradbroke filly
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