‘Surprise packet’ Stefi magnificent in Stradbroke win
Talented All Too Hard mare provides the Cunninghams and Zac Lloyd with their maiden Group 1 success
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In a race that provided a pair of firsts, while also keeping up a family tradition, Saturday’s Stradbroke Handicap (Gr 1, 1400m) at Eagle Farm materialised into an epic success for brave filly Stefi Magnetica (All Too Hard).
Providing jockey Zac Lloyd and Cunningham Thoroughbreds with their first winner as sole owners on the elite stage, Stefi Magnetica’s rise to the top throughout 2024 has been nothing short of remarkable.
Having broken her maiden in an 1100-metre contest at Wellington last July, a win that followed on from solid efforts in good company, including a debut fifth in the Magic Millions The Debut 2YO (900m) and sixth placing in the Widden Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m), the filly then returned on December 28 to land a Benchmark 58 (1010m) at Orange.
In a total of six outings following that victory at Orange, Stefi Magnetica managed to place second in the Surround Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m), finish fourth in the Light Fingers Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m), fifth in the Doomben 10,000 (Gr 1, 1200m), and third in the Fred Best Classic (Gr 3, 1400m), with the latter of the those efforts being her previous start before Saturday’s Group 1 triumph.
The Bjorn Baker-trained three-year-old was sent off a $15 chance under Lloyd and, having quickened up stylishly to lead with 300 metres left to run, gamely held off the persistent challenge of a mare twice her age in dual Group 1 winner Bella Nipotina (Pride Of Dubai) to score by 0.3 lengths, reversing the form of last month’s Doomben 10,000.
The front pair came clear of the rest of the field, with Godolphin homebred Vilana (Hallowed Crown), who was sent off the $4.80 favourite, a further 2.1 lengths behind in third place.
In winning Saturday’s race, Stefi Magnetica became the fifth elite-level winner for Vinery Stud stalwart All Too Hard (Casino Prince).
“I was fine the whole time cantering back, but to see my dad has got me emotional,” Lloyd said post-race.
“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 over racing.
“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.”
In a quite remarkable full-circle event, Lloyd’s manager and father, former top jockey Jeff, rode a Group 1 winner for Bjorn Baker’s father Murray when steering Nom Du Jeu (Montjeu) to success in the 2008 Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2400m), when Zac was just five years of age.
“We went through the race for a couple of hours this morning and after a furlong I said, ‘well that was a waste of time’. He ended up on the rails and near the back,” Jeff Lloyd said.
“He has been crying out to win a Group 1 and to win it in Queensland, my hometown, I couldn’t be prouder.”
Saturday’s victory also came a total of 12 years on from when Stefi Magnetica’s dam, Mid Summer Music (Oamaru Force), landed the Stradbroke in 2012, a victory that ended a 76-year drought for mares in Queensland’s Group 1 at the time.
“Her mother won the race and she’s now gone on and done it herself, so there’s some amazing stories to this,” Jim Clarke of Clarke Bloodstock, director of Bloodstock for the Cunningham’s operation Ridgmont, told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“Bjorn has an interesting connection with the Lloyd family as his father trained Zac’s fathers’ first ever Group 1 winner also.”
Consigned by her breeders Cressfield Stud to the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Stefi Magnetica was purchased for $140,000 by Cunningham Thoroughbreds, Clarke Bloodstock, and her trainer.
“We bought her as a yearling at Magics and the Cunningham Family were very keen on her as a type and very keen on her pedigree as a potential breeding prospect in the future,” Clarke said.
“She’s been a real surprise packet, but Bjorn’s always had a good opinion of her.
“It’s very typical of what he does with the better mares and fillies, he just lets them learn their own craft in easy enough grades so that they know how to race properly.
“He took her to Wellington on the very last day of the two-year-old season last year so that she had a win on her CV as a juvenile, and when she came back in last preparation he just wanted to build her confidence.
“From there, she had four runs in the autumn and with her racing style of getting back and coming through, she just had no luck and it didn’t go her way.”
In a similar fashion to that of the rise of their now Group 1-winning mare, Clarke also spoke about the rise of Cunningham Thoroughbreds and their operation, Ridgmont Farm.
“For them to start the way they did, with one racehorse, arriving at the Magic Millions complex and not really having any connection to the industry at the time, is remarkable,” he said.
“To go from buying a horse, to owning a stud farm, to now winning a Group 1 race, it’s very much a family passion driven by Mitch.
“They’ve looked at this as a business prospect, but they also want to enjoy it. So to win Queensland’s two biggest races within six months, it’s pretty amazing.
“They deserve all the success they’ve had and will continue to get.”
A half-sister to Typhoon Tracy Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) winner Hellfest (Hellbent) and stakes-placed winner Euphoric Summer (Not A Single Doubt), Stefi Magnetica (3 f All Too Hard – Mid Summer Music by Oamaru Force) is the best of five winners from as many to race out of Mid Summer Music, who was purchased by Tyreel Stud for $300,000 at the 2013 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale.
She was then 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. She was carrying her first foal, subsequent six-time winner See It Thru (All Too Hard), at the time.
Mid Summer Music’s filly Bivouac (Exceed And Excel) was bought by Scott Waters for $100,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale earlier this year.
Saturday proved to be a brilliant day at the office for Vinery stallions, with Exceedance (Exceed And Excel) siring his seventh individual winner with Swiftfalcon’s success at Rosehill, and Star Turn (Star Witness) chalking up his eighth stakes winner courtesy of Megastar Heart’s triumph in the Oxlade Stakes (Listed, 1300m).
All Too Hard, who has sired 25 individual stakes winners himself, will stand the 2024 breeding season for a fee of $38,500 (inc GST), unchanged from 2023.