Motion has busy weekend ahead with stakes runners on both coasts
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With stakes runners at Colonial Downs in Virginia, Del Mar in Southern California, and Saratoga in upstate New York, trainer Graham Motion will have an active day on Saturday.
“It’s a good problem to have,” he said on Wednesday afternoon. “You don’t want to sit at home on Saturday.”
Motion, based in Maryland, will be in attendance at Colonial Downs where he has five runners, including two starters in Grade 2 stakes worth $500,000 – End of Romance in the Secretariat Stakes for 3-year-olds, and Beach Bomb in the Beverly D. Stakes for fillies and mares.
“I’ve got a bit more going on” at Colonial Downs, Motion said.
While Laurelin is entered in Saturday’s Grade 2 Saratoga Oaks, another $500,000 race, Motion has sent Heredia across the United States for the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Del Mar on the same day.
Heredia, a 6-year-old British-bred mare by Dark Angel, is owned by Wathnan Racing, and has won 6 of 15 starts. In the fall of 2023, Heredia was third in the Group 1 Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket, Britain’s leading race for fillies and mares at a mile in the autumn.
Heredia did not start again until she finished third by a length in a tough running of the Grade 3 Beaugay Stakes at Aqueduct on May 4. Race winner Dynamic Pricing returned to win the Grade 1 Just a Game Stakes at Saratoga on June 6 for trainer Chad Brown.
Heredia was later third by a half-length in a division of the De La Rose Stakes at Saratoga on July 10.
“I’ve been really pleased with both of her runs,” Motion said.
“I thought she was a little unlucky last time and she got carried a little wide. The time before she made the lead a little early. That was a good effort.”
Motion said he considered starting Heredia in Friday’s Grade 2 Ballston Spa Stakes for fillies and mares on turf at Saratoga, but opted for the $200,000 Yellow Ribbon Stakes a day later.
“We’ve avoiding Chad’s [Brown] army and you run into Phil’s [D'Amato] army,” he said.
The Yellow Ribbon Stakes drew a field of eight, half of which are trained by Phil D’Amato – Hang the Moon, Public Assembly, Mission of Joy and Musical Rhapsody.
Hang the Moon, who won two Grade 2 stakes last year; Public Assembly, winner of the Grade 3 Royal Heroine Stakes at Santa Anita in April; and Liguria, who won the Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes at Santa Anita in March for trainer Michael McCarthy, are three leading contenders.
The Yellow Ribbon is the only stakes for older horses at Del Mar this weekend. Friday’s leading race is the $100,000 Graduation Stakes for statebred 2-year-olds at five furlongs.
On Saturday, the Grade 3 Best Pal Stakes for 2-year-olds at six furlongs drew a field of five. There are three runners trained by Doug O’Neill – Brigante, Pavlovian, and Punto Forty. The other two entrants are trained by Bob Baffert – the highly-regarded colt Desert Gate and St Petersburg.
The Baffert-trained Himika, the winner of a maiden race by six lengths at Santa Anita on June 12, leads the expected field in Sunday’s Grade 3 Sorrento Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at six furlongs.
The Best Pal and Sorrento Stakes are each worth $150,000.
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