R Magic Moment was born and raised to be a champion; she fulfilled her destiny. Bred by Wagon Wheel Ranch in Springville, Utah, R Magic Moment won the 1993 California Appaloosa Derby and four more stakes races in her short race career: the Star of Stars Futurity in 1992, the Champion of Champions Derby in 1993, and the Classy Lassie in both 1993 and 1994. She was the first racehorse to win the Star of Stars at age 2, then win the Champion of Champions at 3 — considered the two top Appaloosa middle-distance races. She ran second to the legendary Wing It in the 1994 California Coast to Coast Stakes.

With a race record of 20-11-3-1 and career earnings of $110,795.62, R Magic Moment stands out as one of the greatest Appaloosa race mares in history. She remains among the top 30 all-time leading starters by dollars earned — one of only five fillies on the list — and was named a California champion. She holds three bronze medallions as the 1992 2-year-old distance filly, the 1993 3-year-old filly and the 1994 4-years-and-older filly. She also earned the supreme champion 3-year-old and back-to-back western regional championship titles in 1993 and 1994.

R Magic Moment holds the track record at Stockton for 4 1/2 furlongs (50 seconds in 1994) and co-holds Bay Meadows’ track record for that distance (:51.20 in 1994).

The mare’s on-track success and the tragedy of her early death inspired a graded stakes race named in her honor at Los Alamitos Racecourse in California: the R Magic Moment Stakes.

“It was so delightful to watch her win, but so difficult to have achieved,” says Wagon Wheel Ranch owner David Nemelka of R Magic Moment’s California Appaloosa Derby and career success. “She had the heart of a champion.” R Magic Moment died at age 5 on June 2, 1995, doing what she loved most.