An E-'Motion'-al Hour

Swept up in the all the hype surrounding Bob Baffert's incredible day and Todd Pletcher winning his second Triple Crown race of the season Saturday at Belmont, there was another trainer who had himself a pretty remarkable afternoon as well, all in the span of 60 minutes.

At 5:41 p.m., Graham Motion, with only his second starter and first stakes entrant on the card, scored a 27-1 shocker with Stone Farm and Madaket Stables' Ascend (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the GI Woodford Reserve Manhattan S. Exactly one hour later, the British-born trainer ran a strong second in the GI Belmont S. with 'TDN Rising Star' Irish War Cry (Curlin). That's $900,000 out of a possible $1.5 million in purse money from two horses in less time than it took most people to drive home from Big Sandy Saturday.

“Pretty crazy,” Motion said of his whirlwind hour. “First of all, the emotions of winning a Grade I when you're 27-1, it was so rewarding and so exciting, and yet, you kind of had to contain yourself, because within 45 minutes, you're running the favorite in a Classic. I haven't been in that position a great deal, when you get to run in back-to-back Grade I's, so it was a pretty exciting couple of hours.”

Ascend spent the first 12 starts of his career in either maiden or allowance company before taking his first stakes shot in Laurel's yielding-turf Henry Clark S. Apr. 22. The gray was left to run last of 12 after a slow break, still had 10 horses to pass at the top of the lane, was steadied off heels with less than a furlong remaining and never switched leads. Despite those obstacles, he flew home to get up in the final strides, covering his last quarter-mile in :22.08. It was a deceptively big effort that, with confirmation from winning jockey Feargal Lynch, gave Motion belief that Ascend could take another step up in class.

“He's a horse that we've always thought was capable of something like this down the road,” Motion reflected. “When he won the Henry Clark, Feargal came back and blamed himself, saying 'he won despite the ride I gave him,' so I was quite impressed with that. We talked about a race like the Manhattan where he'll get such a good break in the weight, and it just seemed like timing-wise and everything, it was a really good opportunity to take a stab.”

Ascend stalked the pace from fourth under Jose Ortiz in the Manhattan and struck the lead by mid-stretch. While it briefly appeared as though he would be run down by favored Time Test (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), Motion says that due to several factors, not least of which was his vantage point for the race, he never lost faith.

“I was standing down by the winner's circle and I don't usually do that,” Motion recalled. “It was very hard for me to see. I was watching on the infield screen, so perhaps that was a good thing that I couldn't really see. I was aware that he was in front and I really don't remember having any anxious moments. I guess I have a lot of confidence in this horse and in Jose. Also, as a trainer, certainly you feel less pressure when you're 27-1.”

Motion was no such longshot an hour later in the Belmont, where Isabelle de Tomaso's GII Wood Memorial S. and GII Lambholm South Holy Bull S. hero Irish War Cry went postward as the public's 11-4 choice. The chestnut unexpectedly set the pace and was in control all the way to the eighth pole, but Tapwrit (Tapit), who tracked from the pocket for the first mile, came calling, and eventually proved best by two lengths.

“It wasn't really our plan to be on the lead–we really wanted to have the trip that the winner had,” Motion relayed. “I was a little anxious when we turned down the backside and I realized that wasn't going to happen. But when they hit the half-mile pole, I thought we were going really nicely and when they turned for home, he kind of opened up on the other horses. I must say, for a minute, I was really confident that he'd get home, but it's the Belmont, it's a mile-and-a-half, it's just such a tough race to win. So many people have had tough beats in the Belmont.”

Irish War Cry came out of his effort well and will be pointed to the July 30 GI Betfair.com Haskell Invitational, a race that has special significance for de Tomaso, daughter of Amory L. Haskell, for whom the race is named.

“Sometimes I'll give a horse an extra day off when they've had a hard race like that, but I put the tack on him today and he looked great,” Motion said. “I was really happy with him.”

The Belmont runner-up may not be the only top-class sophomore in the Motion barn. Alex G. Campbell, Jr.'s homebred No Mo Dough (Uncle Mo) stamped himself as a colt to watch in the division after capturing the May 20 Sir Barton S. at Pimlico with a dazzling turn of foot in the stretch. That win came just 14 days after an allowance victory at Churchill. The bay is being aimed for a start in either the July 28 Curlin S. or July 29 GII Jim Dandy S. at Saratoga with an eye toward the GI Travers S. Aug. 26.

“There was some thought about running him in the Belmont,” Motion revealed. “I just couldn't do it. He'd run three races in a really short space of time and I just didn't think it was fair to the horse to do that. I think he deserves to have the time and point for a summer campaign.”

The 53-year-old trainer was always high on No Mo Dough, but says the horse had physical issues that prevented him from racing until his debut win Mar. 12 at Laurel.

“No Mo Dough, I thought was my best 2-year-old early on,” Motion said. “He came up with a little chip in his ankle, which we had to do surgery on, so he ended up being off until the winter. He was one of the first 2-year-olds that came to me, so he would've been ready to run at Saratoga had things gone well. As it was, we had to give him the time.”

While the races won't be an hour apart, Motion could be in line for more big successes in a short amount of time on July's final weekend with his potent one-two punch. He knows how rare these opportunities are, especially with a stable that generally specializes in turf and older runners.

“To have a horse pointing to the Jim Dandy and another pointing to the Haskell, that's pretty damn exciting,” he said. “For an outfit that doesn't have 3-year-olds for the Classics every year, it's a great position to be in.”