Churchill Downs: I’ll Call finally finds good spot
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Quite a few racing circuits on the East Coast proudly claim the English-born Graham Motion as one of their own, with Maryland heading a contingent that also includes Delaware, Florida, and New York.
Kentucky can claim him, too, considering Motion not only is among the elite to have won the Kentucky Derby (Animal Kingdom, 2011), but he also ran a combined 71 starters at the two Keeneland meets this year – fourth-most among all trainers behind Mike Maker (146), Wesley Ward (75), and Ken McPeek (73) – winning with 15 of them.
Motion’s activity in Kentucky wanes when action moves west from Lexington to Churchill Downs, but once again he maintained a small string here this fall, apart from his main base at the Fair Hill Training Center in northeastern Maryland. One of the horses to show up on a regular basis on the Churchill work tab since early November is I’ll Call, who very much looks like the horse to beat in the last of three $43,000, first-level allowances carded here Thursday.
I’ll Call, bred and owned by the Augustin Stable of George Strawbridge Jr., finished second by a neck in a similar turf route as the 8-5 favorite on Oct. 4, opening day of the Keeneland fall meet. Motion has been looking for a suitable spot for the 3-year-old Smart Strike gelding ever since.
“I’m just glad they finally used the race,” Motion said. “He’s a pretty consistent horse. I’m planning to give him a break after this race.”
I’ll Call, with Alan Garcia to ride, is part of an oversubscribed field in the ninth of 10 Thursday races, a two-turn mile on the turf. In all, 14 are entered, but only as many as 10 can start if the race stays on turf as expected.
Two other allowances are part of what shapes up as an above-average Thursday card, when first post is 12:40 p.m. Eastern. In those earlier races:
◗ Bret Calhoun, who topped the Churchill trainer standings with 10 wins with just nine of 25 cards remaining at the fall meet, will send out one of his younger colts, Son of a Preacher, in race 3, a one-mile turf race for 2-year-olds. Nine are entered, including a Wesley Ward filly (She’s Coal Fired) and one “main-track only” designee, Whyprolongtheagony.
◗ Positively, still seeking an elusive triumph in the allowance ranks, looks to shed his bridesmaid’s tag as one of the likely favorites in race 7, which pits eight 3-year-olds at seven furlongs. Trained by Pat Byrne, Positively has finished second five times since winning a Churchill maiden race in June 2012.