ANOTHER 5 FOR MAGNUS

Magnus had a huge 24 hours with a winner at Moonee Valley on Friday night (Fight to the Line – 3 wins and a second from 4 outings) followed up by another four winners on Saturday.

The rollout on game day kicked off with a comfortable victory to Eklands at Albury, before Backstedt took out his fifth career victory (and third in town) with a 3.5 length romp at Flemington.

Across the country, Magnifisio showed why he is one of Perth’s best sprinters with a 3-length demolition job at Ascot, before first starter, Miss Maggiebeel, finished the day in style in a thriller at Cranbourne.

And it could so easily have been seven with Magnesia missing by a neck at Moonee Valley after becoming unbalanced when looking for a run and The Alfonso was a good thing beaten when second at Randwick after getting caught at the tail throughout.

According to Breednet, Magnus’ 9 winners in the past 7 days gives him equal billing with Encosta de Lago, while his 24 winners in the past 30 days has Magnus on the third rung behind Lonhro.

A pretty good effort when you consider Magnus only has two full crops of racing age and his 78 runners for the season compares more than favourably against the likes of Lonhro (241 runners in 2013/14) and Encosta de Lago (177).

Photo of Backstedt courtesy of Bruno Cannatelli’s Ultimate Racing Photos.