by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications

Ken Weingartner

Freehold, NJ — Bee A Magician, the 2013 Horse of the Year in both the U.S. and Canada, makes her seasonal debut Monday (May 19) in a division of the Miss Versatility Series for older female trotters at Woodbine Racetrack, and could face a stiff test right off the gate.

The winner of 18 consecutive starts dating back to November 2012, Bee A Magician is 8-5 on the morning line in a race that also includes Perfect Alliance — who is a perfect 9-for-9 this year — and world champions D’Orsay and Frau Blucher. Perfect Alliance, who won the Weiss Series at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs and the Singer Memorial Series at the Meadowlands, opens at odds of 9-5.

Bee A Magician will start from post two with regular driver Brian Sears.

USTA/Mark Hall photo

Bee A Magician will be making her 2014 debut on Monday at Woodbine.

“I don’t know if she will win, but it wouldn’t surprise me if she did because of who she is,” Bee A Magician’s trainer Nifty Norman said. “This is her first start and she’s facing some horses that have done some racing. Perfect Alliance is at the top of her game. I’m not expecting anything miraculous. This is all part of the process.”

Bee A Magician, who is being pointed to the Armbro Flight Stakes (eliminations June 6; final June 14) at Mohawk, won all 17 of her starts last year at age 3. She became the first 3-year-old filly trotter to receive the U.S. Horse of the Year Award since Continentalvictory in 1996.

Only five other horses have posted undefeated seasons and been named Horse of the Year: Muscle Hill (2009), Artsplace (1992), Forrest Skipper (1986), Niatross (1979), and Bret Hanover (1964). Muscle Hill and Bee A Magician are the only trotters on the list.

Last year, Bee A Magician earned a divisional record $1.54 million and became the only filly in history, either pacer or trotter, to surpass $2 million in lifetime purses. Her winning time of 1:51 in last year’s Delvin Miller Memorial at the Meadowlands is the fastest mile ever by a 3-year-old filly trotter.

A daughter of the stallion Kadabra out of the mare Beehive, Bee A Magician has won 27 of 30 career races and $2.31 million. She has won 25 of her last 26 starts dating back to August 2012.

“She trained good up there (Thursday) and I’m very pleased with her,” said the New Jersey-based Norman, who trains Bee A Magician for owners Mel Hartman, Herb Liverman and David McDuffee. “I think she’ll give a good account of herself, but it is going to be a tough race.”

Perfect Alliance last raced April 23 in winning the Weiss final by 1-1/4 lengths over Dough Dough in 1:53.3. She won her four starts in the series by a total of 15-1/4 lengths. She tuned up for the Miss Versatility with a 1:52.3 win in a qualifier at the Meadowlands on May 10.

D’Orsay, who last season equaled the world record of 1:51.4 for a 4-year-old female trotter on a mile track, enters the Miss Versatility off a third-place finish in the Miami Valley Distaff in her 2014 debut. Frau Blucher, the fastest 3-year-old trotter ever on a half-mile track thanks to her 1:53.1 win last season at the Delaware County Fairgrounds, is making her first start of the campaign.

The remainder of the division includes Ma Chere Hall, Bax Of Life, and Motown Muscle. The first of the two Miss Versatility divisions features Classic Martine, Charmed Life, Angies Lucky Star, Upfrontluckycarol, Rockin With Dewey and Coffeecake Hanover.