Northfield, OH — Magical Journey was given a “magical journey” by Lauren Harmon to take top honors in the Great Lakes Amateur Driving Association series at Northfield Park on Tuesday (May 27).
The 9-year-old gelded son of Kadabra had nary an anxious moment as Harmon left with alacrity from post two, outgunning Baby Yoda, driven by Edward Miller, from post one, and carded an opening panel of :28.2 before a perfectly rated :30.2 second quarter to get halfway home in :58.4. From there, it was a sprint home with a :58.1 back half to keep Baby Yoda a length away at the line. So Wishfull, driven by Larry Ferrari, left alertly from post five, settled in third early and remained there the entire route.
In a post-race interview, Harmon related, “Magical Journey is just a classy racehorse that tries hard every single start. Last week, he drew poorly (post seven) but had some very strong trot the final half and gave me a hint that he’d be good next time if he drew well here. The week before, he blazed three-quarters in 1:25.3 and couldn’t quite get home on top, but when we got to the half in :58.4, I was pretty confident that he’d go all the way tonight.”
So did the Northfield faithful that sent the favorite off at 3-5 on the toteboard to pay $3.40 to win.
Owned by trainer Gerald Malady, Magical Journey sent his 2025 scorecard to 2-1-2 in 12 starts, good for $21,100. Lifetime, Magical Journey has banked $434,384 on the strength of his 31 wins to go along with his 1:53.3 mark on the five-eighths-mile oval at Pocono three years ago.
The GLADA continues to support worthy charitable organizations as their members donate 100% of their driving earnings in these events to assist causes ranging from horse rescue to equine and human rehabilitation.