Finalists from heats on 29/3. Includes $200 Unplaced.
Prize money: $25000 / $5000 / $3000
Since its inception in 2002, the Group 3 Ladbrokes Magic Maiden has become a race which trainers have targeted with their unraced greyhounds.
Carrying stakes of $25,000 to the winner, the Ladbrokes Magic Maiden has been the start to the careers of numerous quality dogs.
The biggest name to contest the series didn’t win the final. Back in 2014 David Pringle’s unraced dog Shakey Jakey contested the heats of the Magic Maiden. He would win his heat by 22 lengths and clock 29.07s, a time which not only shattered the track record, but still stands today as the time standard at Wentworth Park. Pringle decided to retire the dog immediately and send him to stud.
The race also produced a remarkable tale in 2019 when the offspring of Barcia Bale and national sprint champion Chica Destacada, took six places in the Magic Maiden final.
The six pups were all owned by the Dee & Pee Syndicate of Dennis Donoghue and Peter McDermott, and on the same night their half-sister by Fernando Bale, Veloce Nero, won the Group 1 Association Cup, the pups filled the first four placings in the Magic Maiden.
The winner was Timeless Moment, trained by Kerry Drynan, whose mother Doreen trained Chica Destacada. Timeless Moment's siblings Making A Memory and Really Unreal filled the placings, with another relative, Blue Summer Sky, finishing fourth.
COVID-19 saw the entire Ladbrokes Golden Easter Egg Carnival abandoned in 2020, but when it returned in 2021, again it came with a hiccup.
The Carnival was put back a week after torrential rain hit NSW, but as the Magic Maiden series had already commenced, it continued on the Wednesday evenings, and instead of being a support race on Easter Egg final night, the Magic Maiden had centre stage on its own for the final on March 31.
The undefeated Bandit Ned, trained by Andy Lord, overcome his waywardness from the heats to take out his semi-final and then the final.
The 2022 Magic Maiden again unearthered some potential stars and when the final rolled around the standouts were the Peter Rodgers-trained Simply Limelight the fastest semi-final winner, and the unbeaten Zipping Novak for Jason Magri who, despite winning had been tardy at the start.
It was expected that Simply Limelight would be out in front and Zipping Novak would be stalking, but as the boxes opened, Zipping Novak flew out and once in front, that was the race there.
