2024 – Standardbred Female Horse
Bee A Magician put together an unprecedented racing career, retiring as the highest earning Canadian-sired female racehorse in history.
The World Champion daughter of Kadabra out of the Balanced Image mare, Beehive, was bred by White Birch Farm in Allentown, New Jersey. She was purchased for $90,000 as a yearling by her ownership group which included Melvin Hartman of Ottawa, Ont., Canadian expat Herb Liverman of Miami Beach, Fl., and David Mc Duffee of Delray Beach, Fl.
She raced 72 times in her career, earning more than $4.1-million and winning 45 races.
Trained by Richard ‘Nifty’ Norman, groomed by Stephanie Petherick and driven by Brian Sears and Rick Zeron, she competed against both genders at the highest levels.
In 2012, she finished the season as North America’s leading money-winning two-year-old trotter in 2012 with more than $766,000 in earnings with Rick Zeron as her regular driver. She won 10 of her 13 races, including the Peaceful Way and Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Super Final. She was honoured with an O’Brien Award as Canada’s Two-Year-Old Trotting Filly of the Year for her stellar season.
As a seasoned sophomore, she was invincible, winning all 17 of her races. Sears took over driving duties for races in the US and became her regular driver during her seasons as an older competitor. She set a World Record of 1:51 for three-year-old fillies in the Delvin Miller Memorial and was the year’s leading money winning trotter with $1,547,304 in earnings, a single-season record for Standardbred mares.
Other major victories during her three-year-old year included the Breeders Crown, Hambletonian Oaks, Elegant Image, Moni Maker and Simcoe Stakes. Bee A Magician was voted 2013 Dan Patch and O’Brien Horse of the Year, Dan Patch Trotter of the Year, and Dan Patch and O’Brien Three-Year-Old Trotting Filly of the Year.
During her four-year-old season, she earned $421,314 while hitting the board in 12 of 17 races. The highlight of her season was a victory in the 2014 Breeders Crown Open Mare Trot.
In 2015, she claimed the title of top money winning older Standardbred of the year, adding $980,845 to her bankroll. With 10 wins and 5 seconds in 18 starts, including victories in the Maple Leaf Trot and Armbro Flight, Bee A Magician was recognized with O’Brien and Dan Patch Awards as Older Trotting Mare of the Year.
Her racing career ended in 2016, following a season where she earned $339,750 and won four races including the Yonkers Invitational Trot and the Mack Lobell Elitlopp Playoff.
On the breeding side, her first foal was the Muscle Hill colt and major stakes winner, Bee Forever, a winner of more than $288,000 in his career with his biggest win coming in the 2020 Valley Victory Stakes at The Meadowlands.
Bee A Magician was undeniably one of the greatest racehorses to ever set foot on the racetrack.