Just Magnificent will target her first stakes victory in the Eternal Search Stakes at Woodbine on Saturday, October 24, when the five-year-old mare lines up in the $150,000 contest after a consistent run of turf performances. Trained by Evette Chartrand-Hoek, the Ontario-bred daughter of Big Screen out of the El Prado mare Julia’s Star will contest the seven-and-a-half-furlong inner turf event for Ontario-sired fillies and mares aged three and older. With five top-three finishes from her last six starts, including two victories, Just Magnificent Eternal Stakes will enter the race in encouraging form as she takes aim at her first stakes success.
Owned by Sue Leslie, Valerie Kay, Susan Kay and Chris Odell, Just Magnificent will arrive after finishing third over one and one-sixteenth miles on October 4. Her recent record will offer encouragement, with a victory, a second and a third in her last three outings, all on the E.P. Taylor turf course.
Just Magnificent Targets Eternal Search Stakes Breakthrough
Just Magnificent will make her fourth stakes appearance in the Eternal Search Stakes after finishing second in the Belfountain Stakes two starts ago. That performance, achieved at 18-1 according to the supplied press note, will have established her as a stakes-placed performer.
Chartrand-Hoek will look for a sharper finishing effort from her late-running charge, particularly over the shorter distance of seven and a half furlongs.
The trainer explained that Just Magnificent could sometimes leave herself too much ground to recover, a concern that became evident in her latest third-place finish.
Her August 20 victory over one and one-sixteenth miles will nevertheless provide a positive reference. On that occasion, she rallied to win by one and a quarter lengths, producing the sustained finish her connections will hope to see again.
That success came in her first appearance on the E.P. Taylor turf course, where the mare subsequently recorded a second-place finish and a third-place finish in her next two starts.
Consistency Underpins Just Magnificent’s Challenge
Just Magnificent will bring a record of three wins, five seconds and four thirds from 20 career starts, with earnings of $176,053. Across eight turf appearances, she will carry a record of one victory, three runner-up finishes and two third-place finishes into Saturday’s contest.
Her career will have developed steadily since her debut in the summer of 2024. After recording two third-place finishes early in her career, she broke her maiden at Woodbine on June 19, 2025, winning a seven-furlong main-track race by two and three-quarter lengths.
Chartrand-Hoek will continue to rely on a consistent training routine rather than an intensive workload. The trainer will also undertake grooming duties for the mare, who was bred by Hedgestone Management and purchased for $18,000 at the 2022 CTHS Premier Yearling Sale as Hip No. 146.
The Eternal Search Stakes will provide another opportunity for Just Magnificent to convert her regular presence among the leading finishers into a first stakes success.
Eternal Search Stakes Field and Connections
The six-horse field will include Regal Moment, ridden by Fraser Aebly and trained by Stuart Simon; Ella It Is, partnered by Pietro Moran for Mark Casse; and Olivia Rose, ridden by Rafael Hernandez for the same trainer. Just Magnificent will also be partnered by Pietro Moran and will represent Evette Chartrand-Hoek.
The remaining runners will be Speedy Freeze, ridden by Emma-Jayne Wilson for Ron Sadler, and Nikita’s Gem, partnered by Jose Campos for Sid Attard.
The race will honour Eternal Search, a three-time Canadian champion who recorded 18 wins, 11 seconds and two thirds from 44 starts, including 15 stakes victories. Purchased for $50,000 at the age of two by Mel Lawson, she raced under his Jim Dandy Stable banner and was trained by Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee Ted Mann.
Just Magnificent will seek her first stakes victory in Saturday’s $150,000 Eternal Search Stakes at Woodbine. Her consistent turf form and August victory will offer encouragement, while an improved finishing effort will be important over the seven-and-a-half-furlong distance.
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