In a remarkable training effort from the great Chris Waller, his six-year-old mare Invincibella became history’s first three-time winner of the $1 million Magic Millions Fillies & Mares race at the Gold Coast.

The daughter of I Am Invincible first took out the 1300m feature as a $15 shot in 2018 before returning 12 months on, having enjoyed a trio of Group 2 wins in between, to narrowly defend her crown in the 2019 edition as a $4 shot defeating the race favourite Manicure.

On Magic Millions Day 2020 the punters rallied behind Waller’s dual defending champion who again started the second elect in betting before beating home the top fancy.

The Bjorn Baker-trained Irithea was the $4.80 favourite in Magic Millions Fillies & Mares betting, the rails-drawn daughter of Sntizel away well from the barriers to lead the field around.

Irithea was still in front around the turn for home and into the final furlong before a late charge from Invincibella down the outside with jockey Hugh Bowman timing his ride to perfection on the 60kg topweight.

Invincibella had drawn wide for her shot at a third straight win in the Magic Millions Day event, but she travelled beautifully at the point of the turn with Bowman confident enough to take her out around the corner.

Overtaking the leader inside the last 70 meters of the race, Invincibella just got there in time before charging home in an incredible performance over the brave runner-up.

“There’s no substitute for class,” Bowman said post-win.

“The race wasn’t really run to suit today.

“I’m just so proud of her.”

Stablemate to the winner, Romani Girl ($26), rounded out the Magic Millions Fillies & Mares trifecta for Waller.

“It’s a good effort, she’s been a great horse,” Waller said of Invincibella.

“To come back each year…winning races on these big days is very special.

“They’ve got to be good enough of course, but it’s good to be involved with these types of horses.

“It was another great win. She’s performing at the highest level and doing it on the right day.”

Invincibella, winner of last year’s Group 1 Tattersall’s Tiara (1400m) at Eagle Farm during the Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival, has now won $3,072,603 in prize money with an incredible $1.78 million of that coming from her three Magic Millions wins at the Gold Coast.

“This is her perfect distance,” Bowman said of the 1300m.

“I know she’s won a Group 1 at 1400m, but this is a perfect distance for her.

“The management of her to keep her coming back year after year…is just extraordinary.

“She’s got a really soft spot in my heart.

“The fact that this race was delayed 40 minutes and the fact this horse has been able to keep her composure is another credit to Chris Waller and the stable and how they manage these equine athletes.”

Waller has now enjoyed eight Magic Millions Carnival winners putting him second on the list of all-time champion trainers at the meeting only to Gai Waterhouse with 14.

Bowman is also the second most successful Magic Millions Carnival rider with seven victories, two behind Corey Brown (9).

Denise Martin of Star Thoroughbreds said the team were looking at selling Invincibella at the Magic Millions Broodmare Sales at the end of May, but that there was a chance she could race on after another brilliant performance.

“She’s just a wonderful mare,” she said.

2020 Magic Millions Fillies & Mares Results

Place	#	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Barrier	Weight	SP
1	1	INVINCIBELLA	Chris Waller	Hugh Bowman	–	13	60kg	$6
2	2	IRITHEA	Bjorn Baker	Joshua Parr	0.75L	1	57.5kg	$4.60F
3	18e	ROMANI GIRL (NZ)	Chris Waller	Brenton Avdulla	1.5L	8	55.5kg	$26
4	12	JAMI LADY	Steven O’Dea	Boris Thornton	1.8L	12	55.5kg	$14
5	6	PERSUADER	Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)	Noel Callow	1.9L	11	56.5kg	$101
6	14	MALAHIDE	Michael Costa	Robbie Fradd	2.1L	10	55.5kg	$19
7	10	YAMAZAKI	David Pfieffer	Glen Boss	2.2L	2	55.5kg	$4.80
8	8	INTO THE ABYSS	John Thompson	Damian Lane	2.3L	5	55.5kg	$15
9	7	ZIZZIS	Patrick Payne	Billy Egan	3.3L	15	55.5kg	$31
10	9	TERMINOLOGY	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Tim Clark	3.4L	16	55.5kg	$81
11	17e	MISTEED	Peter & Paul Snowden	Kerrin McEvoy	3.7L	7	55.5kg	$21
12	13	CALL ME ROYAL	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Ryan Maloney	3.9L	3	55.5kg	$15
13	16	LA TIGERESA	Jason Warren	Nash Rawiller	5.9L	4	55.5kg	$10
14	5	TAHITIAN DANCER	Shane Nichols	Damien Oliver	6.1L	14	56.5kg	$13
15	20e	GINGER ROCK	Danny Bougoure	Dale Smith	12.85L	6	54kg	$151
16	19e	CONQUERMORE	Dale Groves	Baylee Nothdurft (a)	15.6L	9	55.5kg	$201
–	4	OUTBACK BARBIE	Tony Gollan	Michael Rodd	–	0	–	–
–	3	MADAM ROUGE	Chris Waller	James McDonald	–	0	–	–
–	15	BOOMTOWN LASS	Chris Anderson	Mark Du Plessis	–	0	–	–
–	11	THE PARTY GIRL	David Pfieffer	Tommy Berry	–	0	–	–