Motion stakes winners may both head to Royal Ascot

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Trainer Graham Motion won both 3-year-old turf stakes opening week at Keeneland, as Sy Dog captured the Grade 3 Transylvania last Friday and Spendarella the Grade 2 Appalachian on Saturday.

Sy Dog got an 81 Beyer Speed Figure, Spendarella an 89, down one point from her front-running win in the Herecomesthebride at Gulfstream Park. Both horses exited their races in good condition, Motion said Sunday, and are being considered for races at Royal Ascot in June. Motion said the pair had suitable qualities for a trip overseas. “Neither one ran on Lasix, and both handled soft-ish ground.”

Spendarella, Motion said, is the more likely of the two to travel. She’d be aimed at the Group 1 Coronation Stakes at one mile over Ascot’s round course. Spendarella has plenty of pace but was comfortable rating off another horse in the Appalachian.

Sy Dog rallied from last to win the Transylvania on Friday, his first start – and best career race – since a narrow win last fall in the Central Park at Aqueduct. The Royal Ascot race for him would be the Group 1 St. James’s Palace, another turning mile. Motion said he’d want to run Sy Dog once before England, with the James W. Murphy at Pimlico being a more likely spot than the American Turf at Churchill.

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“I was a little more surprised with his performance. Going from 2 to 3, I didn’t know how he’d handle stepping up in competition,” Motion said.

Motion sent Miss Temple City to finish a respectable fourth in the 2015 Coronation.