2019 Eclipse Awards: Sharing

Lightning struck twice for Graham Motion when Sharing upset the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf last fall.

Motion also trained the filly’s dam, Shared Account, to win the 2010 BC Filly and Mare at 46-1.

“I’m so appreciative of this filly,” Motion said after Sharing surged to a 1 1/4-length triumph at 13-1 in the Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita. “Shared Account meant so much to me.”

Sharing was named a finalist for the Eclipse Award for 2-year-old filly of 2019.

Bred in Maryland by Sagamore Farm, which bought Shared Account as a 2007 yearling, Sharing was purchased for $350,000 at the Fasig-Tipton yearling sales at Saratoga in August 2018 by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and the Gainesway Stable of Antony Beck.

:: Full list of 2019 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories

Sharing, by Speightstown, won three of her four 2019 starts, with Manny Franco riding every time. She debuted in a maiden-special turf sprint on July 21 at Saratoga, rallying to finish third in a three-way photo.

She would not lose again. Running back four weeks later at Saratoga in a seven-furlong race that was transferred from the turf to a “good” main track, Sharing drew off to a 6 1/4-length victory after contesting the early pace. It was nearly five weeks to her next start, the Sept. 21 Selima Stakes over the Laurel Park turf, where the chestnut filly pulled away to win by 2 1/2 lengths.

The nearly six-week span between the Selima and the Nov. 1 Juvenile Fillies Turf appealed to Motion, even though the Selima is ungraded and he risked the filly being excluded from the Juvenile Fillies Turf, which is regularly oversubscribed. He was hoping Sharing would be selected by the BC committee that reviewed the pre-entered horses in late October, and she was.

“We took the chance and it paid off,” Motion told Daily Racing Form. “It was the right thing.”

Breaking from post 11 in a full gate of 14 and under Eclipse’s black and light blue silks, Sharing settled into a perfect stalking spot from just behind a pair of front-runners. She then kicked into high gear after tipping out for the drive, sweeping past Sweet Melania inside the eighth pole and finishing clear of a rally from the runner-up Daahyeh.

“I was able to get the position that I wanted on the first turn,” said Franco. “It worked out great.”

The Breeders’ Cup victory was the first for Franco and the fourth for Motion.

Sharing has moved from Fair Hill to Motion’s winter base at the Palm Meadows training center in Florida. Motion said the filly would have her first breeze as a 3-year-old in late January, with the Grade 3 Florida Oaks, a 1 1/16-mile turf race on March 7 at Tampa Bay Downs, being her intended 2020 debut. He added the comeback effort will help determine whether to point to the Kentucky Oaks or a grass campaign that might include a trip to Royal Ascot in June.