| Magic Weisner | |
|---|---|
| Sire | Ameri Valay |
| Grandsire | Carnivalay |
| Dam | Jazema |
| Damsire | Bold Forbes |
| Sex | Gelding |
| Foaled | 1999 |
| Country | United States |
| Colour | Bay |
| Breeder | Nancy H. Alberts |
| Owner | Nancy H. Alberts |
| Trainer | Nancy Alberts |
| Record | 15: 7-4-0 |
| Earnings | $888,830 |
| Major wins | |
|
Maryland Juvenile Champion Stakes (2001) Preakness Stakes 2nd (2002) |
|
| Horse (Equus ferus caballus) | |
| Last updated on September 15, 2009 | |
Magic Weisner (foaled in Maryland on May 3, 1999) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. A descendant of Bold Forbes, he was sired by Ameri Valay by breeder Nancy H. Alberts. Magic Weisner was a graded stakes winner but will be remembered most for his gutsy runner-up finish in the 2002 Preakness Stakes and his serious public battle to overcome the West Nile Virus when there was little known about the disease.[1]
Contents |
Nancy Alberts, also Magic Weisner's owner was extra busy in the spring of 1999 amid the whirlwind of events surrounding the horse she bred from a crooked-legged mare named Jazema, which she bought for a token $1 fee because the previous owner had given up on her. That February she nursed Jazema during some difficult times in the late term of her pregnancy. In May, Magic Weisner was born in a very small barn and cared for during the rest of his racing career by Mrs. Alberts.
Magic Weisner ran a solid two year old season, winning his first race in his third attempt. He finished off the board in his first two starts and then steadily progressed with every race thereafter. He trained at Bowie Race Course and shipped up to Laurel in the summer of 2001 and broke his maiden. He followed that up with an allowance win in late August of that year. Then his trainer Nancy Alberts decided to take on stakes company and entered Magic Weisner in the Maryland Juvenille Championship Stakes a nine furlong dirt race at Laurel Park and he won it going away. He finished the year with three wins in five starts.
Trained by owner-breeder Nancy Alberts, Magic Weisner bridged his two and three year old seasons with five straight wins including wins in the Goss Striker Stakes, the Deputed Testamony Stakes and Private Terms Stakes all at Laurel Park Race Course. In the Federico Tesio Stakes a race that many locals call the "Preakness Trial" at Pimlico Race Course, Magic Weisner finished a hard closing second to Smoked Em a highly regarded three year-old trained by Todd Pletcher. Five straight wins and a strong placing in the Tesio was exactly the results that Alberts needed to see in order to stamp Magic's ticket to enter the 127th Preakness Stakes.
Magic Weisner was listed as the second longest shot in a full Preakness field of thirteen horses, many of them graded stakes winners. The favorites in the Preakness were the top three finishers in the Kentucky Derby and its beaten favorite. War Emblem, Proud Citizen, Medaglia d'Oro and Harlan's Holiday garnered a vast majority of the public's support. Magic Weisner was listed at 40-1 on the morning line but dropped to 33-1 at post time because of a deep local following and empathy for Albert's cinderella story. As the gates opened, speedster Menacing Dennis rushed to the lead followed by War Emblem and Booklet going into the first turn as Magic Weisner lagged far back in eleventh of thirteen. With three furlongs to go War Emblem took over the lead followed closely by Proud Citizen, Madaglia d'Oro and Harlan's Holiday. Coming down the stretch it was obvious that War Emblem and Proud Citizen were going to finish one-two. Then in last 110 yeards Magic Weisner made a frantic rush and rallied from far back to finish second to War Emblem by a half length passing that year's top performers and Eclipse finalists like they were standing still in the grade one American Classic Preakness Stakes.
Magic Weisner returned to run fourth in the grade one Belmont Stakes losing to longshot Sarava. Magic then captured the grade two Ohio Derby by a neck over Wiseman's Ferry, who carried him very wide, and The Judge Sez Who finished third. He then found himself in a familiar position trailing second behind War Emblem by three and a half lengths at the wire in the grade one Haskell Invitational. Late that same year he contracted the West Nile virus while preparing for the grade two Pennsylvania Derby in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As his sophomore season concluded, Magic Weisner either won or placed in six of seven stakes races that he ran in during his 2002 campaign.
Magic Weisner contracted West Nile Virus late in 2002 and was all but disabled in early in 2003. On opening day in July 2003 at Laurel Park Race Course, the track featured the return of Magic Weisner, the year prior's Preakness runner-up who nearly died of West Nile Virus. Nancy Alberts, his owner, trainer, breeder and exercise rider, brought him back slowly and picked out a seven-furlong race for him on opening day. Her goal was to have him primed for the Maryland Million Classic on October 11 of that year at Laurel Park. He finished last as the favorite and that would be his swan song of his inspiring career. He briefly rallied for a short-lived comeback in 2004. After several other attempts at a comeback with lackluster results Nancy Albert was forced to retire him in May 2005.
After Magic Weisner failed to come back from the West Nile Virus he was retired in May 2005. At his retirement ceremony, Alberts was quoted as saying, "He looks fine but the West Nile virus just damaged all the nerves around his back and hind quarters. I am sure he'll be able to have another profession. He's at the farm, just trying to get the fitness out of him. I've had a couple people contact me about making him a dressage horse. He is a beautiful mover and sound and he loves to do anything you ask him to do."[2]
Magic is loving life at Nancy's sisters in PA these days. He still loves his picture taken and still looks good.