Motion saddles contenders in Bald Eagle Derby, Searching Stakes

Speaking Scout will hope for better racing luck than he had in his last start in Laurel Park’s $100,000 Bald Eagle Derby on Saturday.

The Bald Eagle Derby, for 3-year-olds at 1 3/16 miles on turf, shares top billing on the Saturday program with the $100,000 Searching Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles on turf.

Speaking Scout endured a traffic-filled trip under Feargal Lynch when fourth, beaten four lengths, in the Grade 3 Kent at Delaware Park on July 2.

“It was brutal,” trainer Graham Motion said. “Feargal couldn’t let him go until the sixteenth pole, and by then the damage was done.”

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Motion said Speaking Scout has matured greatly in recent months and believes he will appreciate the slightly longer distance than in the 1 1/8-mile Kent.

Tommy Bee could be the horse to beat for trainer Brad Cox. The late-running Medaglia d’Oro colt finished ahead of Speaking Scout when third in the Kent.

Tommy Bee finished second in the Black Gold at Fair Grounds on March 5, the Rushaway over Polytrack at Turfway on April 2, and the Caesars at Horsehoe Indianapolis on May 18.

Undercover Kitty won his last two races, both on dirt, in gate-to-wire fashion, and is expected to set the pace in the Bald Eagle Derby under Horacio Karamanos. The winner of the off-turf Crowd Pleaser at Parx earlier this summer, Undercover Kitty is winless from two turf outings despite being by the late powerful turf sire Kitten’s Joy.

Second-time starter Timo is ambitiously placed by high-percentage trainer Jonathan Thomas after finishing fifth in his career debut, a maiden special weight at Saratoga on July 14. He adds blinkers Saturday.

Stakes-placed performers Majestic Frontier and Cloud Play try turf for the first time as does Vance Scholars, who makes his seasonal debut.

Searching Stakes

Motion entered three fillies in the Searching: Sparkle Blue, Pharoah’s Song, and Vergara, who he said will instead run in Saturday’s Ontario Colleen at Woodbine.

After Sparkle Blue finished 10th under Jose Ortiz in Del Mar’s Grade 3 Jimmy Durante on Nov. 27, Motion said the filly “was quite difficult for Jose to ride and wasn’t doing very well mentally.”

Given time to recover from that stressful effort, Sparkle Blue made her 2022 debut a winning one, capturing Delaware’s Christiana Stakes on July 2.

“I feel very good about her coming into the race,” Motion said. “She’s had five weeks and has trained well in the meantime. She’s grown up a lot.”

Sparkle Blue gets Lasix for the first time, a result of a “small trace of blood either in the last race or in a workout,” according to Motion.

Pharoah’s Song makes her first start for Motion after being purchased for $210,000 at last month’s Fasig-Tipton horses of all ages sale. Pharoah’s Song graduated while trained by Chad Brown in her third start, a maiden special weight over Churchill Downs turf on June 3.

“She’s been really straightforward and has handled her works well,” Motion said.

Ocean Safari brings strong credentials to the Searching for trainer Gilberto Zerpa. The perfect-trip winner of the Honey Ryder at Gulfstream Park on May 7 in her last start, she will receive Lasix for the first time.

“She’s a smaller filly and does very well running off a little bit of a layoff,” Zerpa said. “The only reason she’s run without Lasix is that we weren’t allowed to use it in the 2-year-old and stakes races in Florida.”

Zerpa noted the expected quick pace in the Searching and would like the filly to “sit fourth or fifth right off the speed.”

Searching Stakes contender Quality Control is daughter of Quality Road out of Grade 2 winner Daveron, making her a half-sister to millionaire March to the Arch and multiple Grade 3 winner Global Access.

Winless in her first three starts, Quality Control rebounded with two consecutive wins. “She just needed some time to catch up and go long on the turf,” trainer Michael Trombetta said.

Quality Control was being pointed for the Christiana, but “she came up with a sore foot and I had to back off on her,” Trombetta said. This will be her first start since May 31.

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Trombetta expects Quality Control to come from near the back of the pack under Victor Carasco.

Music Amore, a winner in three of her last five starts, is expected to set the pace along with Tasweya, who led them into the stretch of the Christiana before being worn down by Sparkle Blue.

Lady Puchi ships down from Saratoga for trainer Ken McPeek after a runner-up effort in a first-level allowance. She received an 82 Beyer in that race, a number that equals Ocean Safari’s Honey Ryder figure as the Searching’s best last-out Beyer. Lady Puchi finished behind Ocean Safari when fourth in the Ginger Brew at Gulfstream on New Year’s Day.

Maiden winners Gastown Babe, Cupid’s Strike, and Queen Macha also were entered.