English Bee holds on by a head in Virginia Derby

NEW KENT, Virginia – By now the English transplant Graham Motion has become firmly planted in his adopted America, but it took a horse named English Bee to give him his first Virginia Derby win.

“I’ve had some tough beats in this race,” Motion said, mentioning Bay Eagle, who took a neck loss to Potaro way back in 2001.

Saturday night at Colonial Downs, in the first Virginia Derby since 2013, Motion came out on the right side of a close finish as English Bee held on by a head over Jais’s Solitude. It was another half-length back in third to Credit Swap, who set glacial fractions in a race that turned into a three-furlong sprint to the wire.

Jorge Vargas Jr., who gets a lot of business for Motion in Maryland, kept English Bee just off the pace, what there was of it, for most the trip. The opening quarter mile went in 26.40, the half in 52.66, and three-quarters in 1:18.29 before the tempo quickened. The fourth quarter-mile went in 23.45 as English Bee came alongside the pacesetter and English Bee finished things off with roughly an 11-second final furlong to narrowly prevail.

“He’s a tough little horse,” Motion said.

It was the second stakes win on the card for Vargas, who earlier piloted Four Wheel Drive to victory in the $100,000 Rosie’s Stakes for trainer Wesley Ward. Motion has been using Vargas, he said, for about 1 ½ years, often to good effect.

“If he gets to the eighth pole and has a chance, I feel pretty confident,” Motion said. “He’s such a strong finisher.”
Jais’s Solitude came from sixth under Sophie Doyle and just missed getting up despite having to close into such pedestrian splits.

He really, really dug in,” Doyle said.

Tracksmith, who was 2.1-1 to favored 2-1 English Bee, stalked midpack under a firm Daniel Centeno hold, threatened to make a run between horses in mid-stretch, but flattened out slightly to finish fourth. English Bee paid $6 to win and ran 1 1/8 miles on a firm course in 1:52.94.

Motion trains English Bee for the colt’s breeder, Brad Kelley’s Calumet Farm. English Bee is a son of English Channel and Evil Kitten, by Kitten’s Joy, and dropping from Grade 2 and Grade 1 competition he scored the best win of his career Saturday night in this Grade 3, $250,000 race.

“We might try to get one more race out of him this year,” said Motion. “He runs so hard every time.”

Motion’s other two in the race, Solidify and Shootin the Breeze, finished last and second-last. Careful horsemen that he is, Motion went straight to that pair to make sure all was well as they returned to be unsaddled. Then he jogged the wrong way down the dirt-track homestretch to get to the winner’s circle just in time for the trophy presentation – like English Bee hitting the wire in the Virginia Derby.