Miss Temple City likely to make next start at Saratoga
Miss Temple City, who represented the United States so well when a solid fourth in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 19, likely will make her next start at Saratoga, according to trainer Graham Motion.
Miss Temple City tried her hardest in the Coronation under John Velazquez but came up two lengths short.
“She ran great. It’s a shame she didn’t get a piece of it,” Motion said. “It would have been great to have her Group 1-placed at Ascot. But she proved she belonged and that the American 3-year-olds stack up.”
The 3-year-old turf series for fillies at Saratoga begins with the Grade 2, $200,000 Lake George at 1 1/16 miles on July 24 and continues with the Grade 2, $300,000 Lake Placid at 1 1/8 miles on Aug. 14.
“I don’t think I’ll have her ready for the Lake George, but you could see her in the Lake Placid,” Motion said.
Motion said sending a horse to England is a more difficult journey than going to Dubai.
“I wouldn’t say she was tired from the trip, but she did lose some weight,” he said. “The Dubai trip is much more straightforward. You fly from Florida to Dubai. In England, on the trip home, we had to transport her to Amsterdam and then fly home from there.”
The Lake Placid is also an option for Lady Eli, the leading 3-year-old turf filly in training, who won last weekend’s Belmont Oaks. Two starts before her trip to Ascot, Miss Temple City finished second in the Grade 3 Appalachian at Keeneland, beaten 2 1/2 lengths by Lady Eli. Miss Temple City won the Hilltop at Pimlico in her final start before heading overseas.
◗ Ring Weekend, the winner of the Grade 1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita in March, is scheduled to return to training this week.
Ring Weekend missed some time with a foot issue following the Kilroe, then had a workout May 14. He has not worked since.
“He just wasn’t 100 percent, so we backed off,” Motion said. “He’s been aqua-tredding for the past several weeks, and I hope to have the tack back on him this week.”