Progressive three-year-old Hell To Pay shrugged his maiden tag in brilliant style with victory in the A$250,000 Canadian Club Magic Millions Maiden Plate at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday.
Hell To Pay (Craig Williams) win the Canadian Club Magic Millions Maiden Plate (Pic – Magic Millions)
John O’Shea and Tom Charlton’s gelding started his career with four consecutive minor placings in strong maidens in New South Wales during 2024 but, much to the delight of his large team of connections, he saved his best for a win in one of two Australia’s richest Magic Millions maidens.
Under champion jockey Craig Williams, Hell To Pay jumped well from barrier four and settled just behind the speed before taking over inside the final 300m when asked to quicken.
Bjorn Baker’s Stardeel and the Ciaron Maher-trained Paccadero loomed as threats inside the final 200m of the race but Hell To Pay responded to riding and held a length margin on the line.
The son of Hellbent was purchased by Champion Thoroughbreds for A$280,000 from the Yarraman Park Stud draft at the 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
O’Shea said he was confident Hell To Pay would be hard to beat based on his strong Sydney form.
“To be fair to the horse, he just kept running into some really smart ones in Sydney – Tuilleries is a Group horse on ratings,” O’Shea said.
“He loves to get his toe in, Willo rode him like a good thing and he got the job done.
“We were optimistic about his chances. We’ve got our eye on a lot of yearlings, we usually buy eight to 12.”
Williams said the horse was trained perfectly and his chances were aided by a soft draw that allowed him to race near the speed.
“Today that horse was favourite, he was stepping up to a suitable distance and he was too good for them,” Williams said. “So far my day is amazing.”
Yarraman Park Stud will offer the full-brother to Hell To Pay as Lot 1001 in next week’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
The colt hails from the same family as Everest champion Yes Yes Yes and Group 1 winner In Her Time.
