Majestic Reason keeps on rolling in Barbara Fritchie upset

After Majestic Reason ended her 4-year-old season with a victory in the Willa On the Move Stakes, trainer Graham Motion thought about giving the filly a winter break. Then he thought about how well Majestic Reason ran at Laurel and reconsidered.

Keeping Majestic Reason going turned out to be a smart move as the now 5-year-old mare continued to excel at Laurel, recording a 2 1/4-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Barbara Fritchie Stakes. Victim of Love was second, a half-length in front of Anna’s Bandit.

Needs Supervision finished fourth, followed by Blue Eyed Girl and Saguaro Row, who disappointed as the 3-5 favorite.

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Majestic Reason covered the seven furlongs in 1:23.35 and returned $22.20 as the longest shot on the board.

Majestic Reason, a daughter of Majestic Warrior owned by Richard Golden and Hillwood Stable, improved her overall record to 6-4-2 from 13 starts. She is 5-4-1 from 10 starts at Laurel.

“She was doing so well and she loves this track, I thought it made sense to keep her going this winter and point her for this race,” Motion said. “We gave her a break last winter. I can’t say enough about her. She’s so consistent and she’s one of our barn favorites.”

Motion pointed out that Majestic Reason was voted champion Maryland-bred female for 2019.

“I’m glad she justified that,” he said.

It was the first Barbara Fritchie victory for Motion.

“My history is in Maryland; these races mean a lot to me,” Motion said.

It was also the first Fritchie victory for jockey Trevor McCarthy, who said he felt the key to Saturday’s victory was to wait as long as possible to ask his filly to run in order to get the distance.

“It worked out perfect with two speed horses vying, and we were able to sit right behind them,” McCarthy said. “She’s a filly that doesn’t like to be rushed. The seven-eighths was a bit of a question but she got the right trip today.”