Motion Hopes to Keep Hot Streak Going

Graham Motion has been red hot this summer, especially at Saratoga where he has a record of 41-7-6-6 so far this meet. The conditioner hopes to keep that going with three runners signed on for three of the weekend’s biggest Grade I events. 
    He will be represented at his summer base at the Spa by GII Delaware Oaks winner Fortune Pearl (Mineshaft), who will run in the prestigious GI Alabama S. 
    “This filly has really been a pleasant surprise to me,” Motion commented on yesterday’s NTRA teleconference. “She just keeps improving. After she ran [third] in the [GII] Black-Eyed Susan [S. May 16], we just pointed for the Delaware Oaks and trained her at Delaware. I thought she ran a big race that day and obviously this is going to be a big step up in competition. I think the [1 1/4-mile] distance will be well within her scope, which might not be for some of the others.” 
    A debut winner in a Tampa Bay maiden claimer on grass last December, the dark bay ran second in a pair of starter allowances in Florida at the beginning of this term. Fifth in an optional claimer in Hallandale Mar. 13, she won a Pimlico optional claimer May 2 prior to her run in the Black-Eyed Susan. 
    “She is a filly that has never been impressive in the morning and that is why we started her in a claiming race,” Motion said. “She has just continued to progress. I have had her up at Saratoga for three works and I think it is really important for horses to train on this surface. I don’t know for sure how she is going to fit in this race, but I think she genuinely deserves a shot.” 
    Also seeking Grade I success for Motion at Saratoga is Flaxman Holdings’ Main Sequence (Aldebaran), who will be entered in Sunday’s GI Sword Dancer H. The gelding captured four wins in his native England for trainer David Lanigan prior to joining Motion’s U.S. operation. The chestnut came charging late to capture his American debut in Monmouth Park’s GI United Nations S. July 6 and earned an automatic entry into the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf in the process. 
    “To be honest, [the U.N.] was plan B,” Motion said. “I had originally planned to take him to Arlington for one of the prep races for this weekend. But, when he came to me over the winter he got very sick. He actually got pneumonia from all the traveling from England, so I was little bit nervous about shipping him all the way to Chicago for that reason. I thought the U.N. wasn’t coming up a crazy tough race, and when I looked at his form, he was running against some of the best in Europe.” 
    Shipping is not the only thing preventing Motion from sending Main Sequence to Chicago for the GI Arlington Million. 
    “Besides [the Sword Dancer] being my preference, Flaxman has a horse coming from Europe to run in the Million, so it really just made sense that we separated them to be honest,” Motion remarked. 
    The Motion barn will also have a presence in Chicago Saturday for Arlington’s biggest day of racing in the form of Can’thelpbelieving (Ire) (Duke of Marmalade {Ire}). The bay graduated at third asking in Hallandale while making his seasonal bow Jan. 11 and followed with a fifth in that venue’s GIII Palm Beach S. Mar. 1. Second in a Keeneland allowance Apr. 24, he was third in Belmont’s Pennine Ridge S. May 26–a prep for the GI Belmont Derby–and won an allowance on the Saratoga lawn last time July 18. 
    “This is going to be a big step for him, but he is clearly a horse that needs the [1 1/4-mile] distance,” Motion said. “He just won going 1 3/8 miles at Saratoga in an allowance race. He needs the distance and there are only so many opportunities to do it, so that is why we are bringing him to Chicago.” 
    Motion added, “Some of the biggest races I have won in my career have been at long odds. I have never been one to be afraid to take a shot.”