Graham Motion

Steve Asmussen claimed the top prize of $50,000 for the third time in five years in the Maryland Jockey Club's $100,000 trainer bonus offered to horsemen for their participation in stakes races over Preakness weekend, May 14-15, at Pimlico Race Course. The Hall of Famer edged defending champion Mike Maker. Asmussen started 11 horses in 10 stakes over the two days, finishing with 54 points. On May 15, he ran first and second with Mighty Mischief (Into Mischief) and Jaxon Traveler (Munnings) in the GIII Chick Lang S. and also...

The odds-on selection making her seasonal debut in Saturday's GIII Gallorette S. at Pimlico, Mean Mary (Scat Daddy) gave her owner and breeder Alex Campbell, Jr. and trainer Graham Motion their second victory in four years in the race, adding to the success of homebred Ultra Brat (Uncle Mo) in bog-like conditions in 2018. The clear speed in the scratched-down field of five, Mean Mary did no work whatsoever to lead a couple of strides away from the gates and was put to sleep up front by her regular partner...

Registration remains open for the fifth International Forum for the Aftercare of Racehorses (IFAR), to be held virtually in a series of live webinars each Tuesday, beginning Apr. 6 through Apr. 27. Each session begins at 12 p.m. GMT (8 a.m. Eastern time) and lasts approximately one hour. "With nearly 300 registrants already, we are excited by the enthusiasm demonstrated by the Thoroughbred industry for what will truly be a global event," said Di Arbuthnot, chair of IFAR. "Between educating on aftercare best practices, offering case studies on aftercare programs...

Klaravich Stables' lightly-raced Search Results (Flatter) will try to make it two stakes wins in three career starts and punch her ticket to the GI Kentucky Oaks for trainer Chad Brown in the GIII Gazelle S. Saturday at Aqueduct. Unveiled Jan. 3 going six furlongs at Gulfstream, the $310,000 Keeneland September buy ran away to a four-length victory. Stepped up and stretched out to a mile in the local Busher Invitational S. Mar. 6, the dark bay responded with a hard-fought half-length victory over the more seasoned Miss Brazil (Palace...

Sharing (Speightstown--Shared Account, by Pleasantly Perfect), winner of the 2019 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, has been retired from racing after suffering an injury in a paddock mishap, according to an Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners release. Bred by Sagamore Farm, 4-year-old is out of the 2010 GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf heroine, Shared Account, and was purchased as a yearling by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners for $350,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Select Sale in Saratoga. Campaigned by Eclipse and Gainesway Farm, she was trained by Graham Motion throughout her...

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Gainesway's well-traveled Sharing (Speightstown) will look for her second Grade I win over the Santa Anita turf when she heads postward in the GI American Oaks Saturday for trainer Graham Motion. The chestnut filly, who won last year's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf in Arcadia, opened 2020 with a win in the May 23 Tepin S. at Churchill Downs. She shipped overseas to be a gallant second in the June 20 G1 Coronation S. at Royal Ascot and returned stateside to take the Sept. 4...

1st-Gulfstream Park, $50K, Msw, 2yo, f, 1mT, post time: 12:05 p.m. ET The rail-drawn Flaxman Holdings homebred PANGAEA PROXIMA (Temple City), a half-sister to millionaire and Gulfstream Park GIII Palm Beach S. hero A Thread of Blue (Hard Spun), gets her career started. Her worktab includes a pair of bullet breezes at Graham Motion's Fair Hill base. Amerman Racing homebred Caribe Bean Moka (Uncle Mo), a daughter of GI Longines Just a Game S. heroine Coffee Clique (Medaglia d'Oro), debuts for Brian Lynch. TJCIS PPs 8th-Tampa Bay Downs, $21K, Msw,...

Tamahere (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) looks to become the first 3-year-old filly since Better Lucky (Ghostzapper) in 2012 to defeat older turf distaffers in what appears to be a loaded renewal of the GI Matriarch S. Sunday at Del Mar. One of three in the race for trainer Chad Brown--who won this in 2017 and 2018--the bay filly was twice a winner in seven French runs for Francois Rohaut, including a listed event at La Teste in June. She made an enormous impression when making her stateside debut in the...

Steve Landers Racing's Royal Prince (Cairo Prince) is the 7-2 morning-line favorite in the GIII Cecil B. DeMille S. at Del Mar Sunday. The Brad Cox trainee came home first at Kentucky Downs Sept. 7, but with the gates sprung before the full field was loaded, the race was determined to be a non-wagering event. The gray colt, a half-brother to last year's champion juvenile filly British Idiom (Flashback), officially broke his maiden going 1 1/16 miles over the turf at Keeneland Oct. 2. Cutting back to a mile Sunday,...

The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation has announced the election of Anita Motion, John B. Cannie, Esq., and Sarah Stein to the organization's Board of Directors. The TRF Board provides leadership for carrying out the Foundation's mission to save Thoroughbred horses no longer able to compete on the racetrack from possible neglect, abuse, and slaughter. "On behalf of the TRF Board of Directors, I warmly welcome Anita, John and Sarah" shared Patrick H. Mackay, Chairman of the Board. "Each of them is a valuable addition to the TRF's leadership. We appreciate the...

7th-Keeneland, $69,943, Msw, 10-17, 2yo, f, 7f, 1:29.66, ft, 1 1/2 lengths. THINKING (f, 2, Nyquist--Critikal Reason {SP}, by Aptitude) was rated a 4-1 chance to improve off a debut sixth to next-out GIII Matron S. victrix Royal Approval (Tiznow) at Kentucky Downs Sept. 9 and made a successful transition to the main track to graduate at second asking Saturday at Keeneland. One of the first into stride from her high draw, Thinking raced in a share of third and three wide down the backstretch before and chased outside dueling...

On a bright fall morning in Maryland, Arnaud and Leigh Delacour are diligently at work at their Fair Hill-based stable. Arnaud is on the phone, talking logistics with various jockey agents while inspecting a youngster that just returned from a workout. Meanwhile, Leigh leads a troop of four exercise riders and their mounts out for a light jog through the rolling pastures of Fair Hill. When she returns, they'll compare notes and move on to the next set. It takes a special kind of relationship for a couple to successfully...