Magic Millions traffic jam victim returns

Snitzel filly Nomothaj gets her chance at redemption this Saturday as she steps out in the opening event at Flemington over the straight 1000m trip. Perhaps a slight sense of déjà vu will be felt by connections as she returns to the same track and distance in which she scored an exciting victory on debut.

Nomothaj was a hot chance leading into the Magic Millions 2YO Classic however found trouble early, as the reckless ride on Ef Troop caused a chain reaction with the bulk of the field affected by the find-the-front-at-all-costs approach, with Nomothaj given little chance for a run in the end.

The Hayes & Dabernig trained juvenile might yet throw another spanner in the works before the Australia’s premier 2-year-old race, currently the only horse to beat the Slipper favourite Sunlight, who was a standout when beating Estijaab on the weekend.

Nomothaj was lightning on debut, beating Magic Millions winner Sunlight by 1.35 lengths and seemingly putting her on the treadmill when leaving the Golden Slipper favourite in her wake back October last year.

The 2-year-old ran a time of 0:57.51 on debut, charging home in 33.12 for the last 600. Sectional analysers would be licking the lips at the 10.50 and the 10.08 she ran in consecutive splits between the 800 and 400m mark, even reaching a top speed of 71.43 kp/h.

Nomothaj has drawn barrier 9 this Saturday with gun Mark Zahra to ride. She will be aided by race experience especially at the track and distance with improvement on her first run expected.

She has a definite time advantage over all other runners in the field with race experience where she’ll be looking to win and win well. She is a current $5.50 chance with Sportsbet.com.au, returning a handsome $2.05 to fill the minors for tactical punters.