Congrats filly is best in Brave Raj S.

Congrats rising 2-year-old filly star Holiday Magic stretched out in distance to win the $85,000 Brave Raj S. Saturday at Calder – the first stakes win in her young career after a pair of sprint stakes placings earlier this summer at Calder (VIDEO).

Holiday Magic is the third stakes winner in the past month by her sire, including the undefeated 2-year-old filly Cougarville.

After flashing her speed through the opening quarter, Holiday Magic settled a couple of lengths off the pace before jockey Juan Leyva made his for the stretch run. Holiday Magic moved from outside in and rallied strongly down the stretch, taking the lead  to win by four and a quarter lengths.

“We had a little trouble throttling her down,” said winning trainer Bill Kaplan.

“That’s why we went in this mile race because she couldn’t relax. Now that we got her to relax, I think she’ll get any distance.”

“I really wasn’t worried about anybody in there,” added Leyva. “I thought I had the best horse in the race. I just had to get her relaxed and in a comfortable stride, and that’s pretty much what I did.”

“Juan did a good job in the morning (during training) and it showed today,” echoed Kaplan.

Owned by the partnership of Pinnacle Racing, Jack Hendricks, and Roger Justice, Holiday Magic upped her bankroll to $104,050 from a mark of 2-1-1 in four starts. She is out of the Harlan’s Holiday mare Harliday and was purchased by her owners out of the 2013 OBS Spring sale of 2-year-olds this April.