Beverly D. should come down to Stellify, Gimme a Nother
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One of trainer Graham Motion’s South African imports is going back home and will become a stallion. Another will show up in New Kent, Va., to try and win the Beverly D. Stakes on Saturday at Colonial Downs.
While the announcement earlier this week that One Stripe, a top 10 North American older-male turf horse, had been retired to stud came somewhat out of the blue, Gimme a Nother has been aimed toward the Beverly D. since she got back onto a steady breeze pattern in late April. Listed at 9-2 on the morning line, Gimme a Nother figures a considerably shorter price in the Grade 2, $500,000 Beverly D., a 1 3/16-mile grass race that drew a dozen older fillies and mares.
Venencia and Storm Miami are cross-entered in the Glens Falls, to be run Sunday at Saratoga. Trainer Amelia Green said Storm Miami will almost certainly run in New York. As of press time, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. hadn’t responded to a text message regarding plans for Venencia.
If everyone ran to form, the Beverly D. would come down to Gimme a Nother and Stellify, whose last race came in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf nearly eight months ago.
Motion has been the primary North American conduit to South African racing in recent years, having started six imports from there, beginning with Beach Bomb in August 2024. Six time zones and roughly 8,000 miles separate the area around Johannesburg, where these horses trained, and Motion’s base in Maryland, and adapting to a massive environmental change takes a good long time. One Stripe needed about a half-year and several races to hit his South African peak, and Gimme a Nother, a multiple Group 1 winner back home, could be poised for a 2026 campaign superior to her first in North America.
In her second start for Motion, Gimme a Nother finished a fine second behind subsequent champion She Feels Pretty in the Modesty Stakes in May 2025, then failed to handle a sodden Saratoga course in the New York Stakes about a month later. In the John Mabee Stakes on Sept. 6 at Del Mar, she truly seemed to find her form.
Gimme a Nother came under consideration for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, Motion said, before a touchy splint bone ended her campaign. Over the winter, a dental issue delayed her return to action, which came June 13 in the Eatontown at Monmouth Park. Granted, Gimme a Nother got a great trip sitting second behind a slow pace, but she showed real spark kicking clear to win by 3 1/2 lengths while posting a career-best 94 Beyer Speed Figure.
“I ran her in Jersey hoping it would get us to this race. Timing-wise and everything else, it couldn’t have worked out any better,” Motion said.
Saturday’s distance really suits Gimme a Nother, but it might be on the short side for Stellify, whose top races have come between 1 5/16 and 1 1/2 miles. Do not, however, expect trainer Brad Cox to run a short horse despite Stellify’s extended layoff. The 5-year-old mare had already done some meaningful off-track exercise before she posted the first of seven Churchill Downs workouts on June 14.
“She puts a good bit into her training, and I think she’s ready,” Cox said.
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Stellify didn’t debut until February of her 4-year-old season, and her stock rose astronomically over the course of last year. She won four races in a row, capped by a dominant front-running score in the $2 million Ladies Marathon at Kentucky Downs. Seventh in her Breeders’ Cup start, Stellify never got to run her race after breaking flat-footed and losing position while racing out of rhythm through the first furlong.
“Normally she breaks and gets involved,” said Cox, who believes Stellify will have no issue shortening up in distance Saturday. “We’d like to win a Grade 1 with her.”
If Stellify’s not up to that this weekend, she could go to the E.P. Taylor at Woodbine, Cox said, rather than return to Kentucky Downs.
Stellify probably won’t lead Saturday, not with horses like Achieve and Somethinabouther stretching out from shorter trips.
Among the others, Pin Up Betty has done all her best work at Churchill and at base is a better mare than outside-drawn Way to Be Marie. Crevalle d’Oro had strong form over the winter but hasn’t started since February, and in her lone start beyond 1 1/16 miles, she finished a fading fifth.
Motion said earlier in the summer that he had long desired to win the Beverly D., once a Grade 1 fixture at the late Arlington Park. His time comes Saturday.
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