by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications

Ken Weingartner

Freehold, NJ — Bee A Magician will return to action for the first time in nearly a month when she faces six foes in Friday’s $26,000 Open Handicap for trotters at Meadowlands Racetrack. The 5-year-old mare, who has won six of seven races this season, is the 3-5 morning line favorite and will start from post seven with Brian Sears driving for trainer Nifty Norman.

Prior to her time off, Bee A Magician won the Armbro Flight Stakes by 4-3/4 lengths over Charmed Life in a stakes-record 1:51.4 on June 20 at Mohawk Racetrack. She has won three consecutive starts since finishing second to Father Patrick in the Maxie Lee Memorial Invitational on May 24 at Harrah’s Philadelphia.

Bee A Magician prepped for her return by winning a qualifier in 1:52.4, with a :55 final half-mile, on July 11 at the Meadowlands.

In Friday’s race she will face, in post order, Classic Martine, World Cup, Mr Picolit, Appomattox, DW’s NY Yank, and Market Share.

USTA/Mark Hall photo

Bee A Magician will return to the races this Friday at the Meadowlands.

“I wanted to give her a little break,” Norman said. “She had a whole week off out in the field and then she had a week of jogging and did a little bit of training before qualifying last week. She had a pretty good break, put on a little weight, and looks good. I couldn’t be happier. She’s fantastic.”

A daughter of Kadabra out of the mare Beehive, Bee A Magician has won 37 of 54 career races and earned $3.13 million for owners Mel Hartman, Herb Liverman, and Dave McDuffee. She was named Horse of the Year in 2013 after winning all 17 of her races and banking a record $1.54 million for a 3-year-old female trotter.

Earlier this year, Bee A Magician won her Armbro Flight elimination in a Canadian-record 1:51.1, giving her three winning miles in 1:51.1 or faster in her career. No female trotter in history has more.

“She seems very healthy, very happy, very sound,” Norman said, adding about returning from the layoff, “It’s like starting over again. That’s the thing about giving them a break, you like to get back into the routine, but I think she’s going to drop right in there.”

Following the Open Handicap, Bee A Magician is being pointed toward the Fresh Yankee on Aug. 8 (Hambletonian Day) at the Meadowlands and the Muscle Hill on Aug. 21 at Vernon Downs.

“That’s the plan,” Norman said. “We’ll just give her a nice race and see how things go.”

Market Share, who is the 7-2 second choice on the morning line, will be making his first start since finishing sixth in the Maxie Lee. The two-time Dan Patch Award honoree is winless in three races this season, but has won 25 of 60 career starts and earned $3.68 million.

“He was a little sick in the Maxie Lee and his blood just wasn’t where we wanted,” explained Linda Toscano, who became the first female trainer to win the Hambletonian with Market Share in 2012. “The back end of the season is really where the biggest races are for the older trotters so I decided to just back off on him, get him healthy, and point for the later part of the year.”

Toscano said Market Share’s schedule includes all of the major events for the older trotters starting with the John Cashman Memorial on Hambletonian Day and the Crawford Farms Trot at Vernon Downs on Aug. 21.

Despite the recent injury to Sebastian K, Toscano is expecting Market Share to have his hands full facing a deep and competitive division of older trotters.

“JL Cruze has been amazing and I truly believe that if Bee A Magician had gone to Europe, she would’ve won the Elitlopp this year,” said Toscano. “It seems like racing older horses is catching on which is good for the sport and good for our industry, but that means the fields are getting tougher for us.”

Classic Martine, now in the barn of trainer Steve Elliott, was last year’s Dan Patch Award winner for best older female trotter. She has won two of seven races this season, with her top triumph coming in the Miami Valley Distaff on May 3 at Miami Valley Raceway.

There is a carryover of $197,368 in the final race Jackpot Super High Five. Handicappers also have another opportunity to tackle the newest bet at the Meadowlands. Race five offers a 20-cent Super High 5 wager with an industry low eight percent takeout.

Post time is 7:15 p.m.

— Justin Horowitz, Meadowlands Media Relations Manager, contributed to this story