Miss Temple City (Temple City), impressive winner of the May 15 Hilltop S. at Pimlico, remains on course for an appearance in the G1 Coronation S. at Royal Ascot June 19, trainer Graham Motion confirmed Thursday.
“I've always wanted another opportunity to go back over there,” said Motion, who saddled GI Kentucky Derby and G1 Dubai World Cup winner Animal Kingdom to an 11th-place finish in the 2013 G1 Queen Anne S. “I love the fact she can go over there and run against 3-year-olds and not open company, which is hard to do. I like that she can run against 3-year-olds, go a mile, which we know she can do, and she's a filly who has never run on Lasix and that's a big fact, too.”
Owned by Sagamore Racing, Allen Rosenblum and The Club Racing LLC, Miss Temple City has never been off the board in her five career appearances. Perfect in two tries last season, the dark bay was a close third behind Consumer Credit (More Than Ready) in Gulfstream's GIII Sweetest Chant S. Jan. 24 and runner-up to divisional leader Lady Eli (Divine Park) in the GIII Appalachian S. at Keeneland Apr. 12.
Motion suggested that his charge would likely have one breeze prior to her departure on the steeplechase course at Fair Hill as a means to approximate what she'll be faced with at Ascot.
“As long as the ground is all right, I want to give her a nice work under similar circumstances that she's going to have to deal with over there,” Motion explained. “Fair Hill has that. The steeplechase course, the last quarter of a mile, is uphill. I think it's a perfect scenario for her to get some experience for that. So that's my idea, to gallop her there once or twice and then breeze her before she leaves.”
The conditioner added that 'TDN Rising Star' Donworth (Tiznow), the beaten favorite in the Sir Barton S. at Old Hilltop May 16, would likely start in the $150,000 WinStar Farm Easy Goer S. June 6.
“All the handicappers and everyone tell me he ran his race and he was just up against the inside speed bias,” Motion said. “I think it's a fair comment to say that in retrospect. I'm not as disappointed two weeks later than I was on the day of. I think he ran his race and he was beaten by a nice horse, and he came out of the race well. He's such a big horse that he has trouble getting away from the gate and trouble getting around tighter turns. It's always been an issue. I think the wider turns at Belmont should help him.”
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