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INNING a Grade 1 stakes at any track is a reason to celebrate for any trainer. Taking two in two days at prestigious Keeneland is truly special, and it’s why Graham Motion is the first trainer to win this award twice. “It was a phenomenal weekend,” Motion said on October 11th. “It was also extremely gratifying.” Here’s why. A day after his two-yearold filly Dancing Rags won the Grade 1 $400,000 Alcibiades by a length on Friday, October 7th, giving Maryland-based jockey Angel Cruz his first graded stakes victory, Motion’s four-year-old filly Miss Temple City captured the $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile by a head for her second Grade 1 stakes score over males this year, thanks to a flawless ride by Edgar Prado. “Edgar gave her a Hall of Fame ride,” Motion said. “It was probably one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done in my career: win two Grade 1s against males in one year.” Motion’s decision to test Miss Temple City against males wasn’t an easy one. After her length-and-a-quarter victory over males in the Grade 1 Maker’s 46 Mile at Keeneland
on April 15th, Miss Temple City ran against her own sex three times and didn’t hit the board in any of them. First, she traveled to England, where she finished fourth in the Group 2 Duke of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot. Back in the U.S., Miss Temple City finished fourth by a neck in the Grade 1 Diana Handicap, then a tiring fifth in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa. “She had extremely bad circumstances and it was very frustrating for me,” Motion said. “She ran very respectably in England on soft ground. She came back from England really well. We ran her in the Diana. She didn’t have a perfect trip and she was beaten a neck for first, and she was in front the jump after the wire. She may be the best mare I ever trained. I felt like I had let her down. The last race, she got caught up chasing a rabbit. It was a shame. It was very disappointing to me.” Motion had a choice of two one-mile Grade 1 stakes at Keeneland for Miss Temple City on October 8th: the $400,000 First Lady against fillies and mares taking on champion Tepin and her eight-race winning streak, or the Shadwell Mile against males. “I probably have to thank Tepin for that,” Motion said. “When she opted for the filly race this time, we opted to go the other way.”
Good choice. Ironically, Tepin finished second in her race. Then Miss Temple City won the Shadwell. Dancing Rags and Miss Temple City’s victories continue another outstanding season for the 52-year-old Motion, who is already 17th in trainers’ lifetime earnings ($105.4 million) with a gaudy 19 percent win rate off 2,145 victories from 11,575 starts through mid-October. Motion was 10th in earnings last year and is currently 12th for 2016. Motion has already trained two champions, Kentucky Derby and Dubai World Cup winner Animal Kingdom (Three-Year-Old Colt of 2011) and Main Sequence (Older Male and Older Turf Male of 2014) as well as Breeders’ Cup winners Better Talk Now and Shared Account. The native of Cambridge, England, worked for Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard for five years before starting his own stable. He currently trains 120 horses who are stabled at Fair Hill in Maryland. “I feel very fortunate that almost every year was better than the one before,” Motion said. “That’s tough to keep up.” Then he deferred credit: “I’ve had some loyal guys that have been with me since I started.” n
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