Graham Motion

After taking home the Central Park Stakes trophy with Jack and Jim (Slumber {GB}) at the Big A on Saturday, trainer Graham Motion made it back to the winner's circle when Laurelin (Ire) (Zarak {Fr}) got up in time to take the Tepin Stakes on Sunday. The chestnut broke her maiden for the Maryland-based conditioner by 1 1/2 lengths over the same grass course Oct. 13, but that was not enough to install her as the favorite in the bettor's minds. As a 4-1 shot here, the filly settled mid-pack...

3-year-old fillies will go one mile on the turf for Friday's $350,000 GII Valley View Stakes at Keeneland in the penultimate weekend before the Breeders' Cup. Last year, in its first rendition run at one mile (the race was previously held going 1 1/16 miles), Chad Brown's Surge Capacity (Flintshire {GB}) spring-boarded from victory into becoming a next-out Grade I winner in the Dec. 3 GI Matriarch Stakes. A full field of 12 (along with four also-eligibles) will look to do the same. Morning-line favoritism lies with the Christophe Clement-trained...

The John Forbes Memorial, a two-mile flat race to be run Saturday at the Far Hills, New Jersey hunt meet isn't for every horse. The horse needs to be able to handle the grueling distance of two miles and carry as much as 148 pounds. But there are plenty of trainers who believe their horses can handle the test. A race that is getting better every year, the $150,000 race attracted 14 entries, including Thoroughbreds from the stables of Mike Maker, Christophe Clement, Graham Motion and Peter Eurton. The Forbes...

3rd-SA, $54K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 5:00 p.m. ET. Joey Peacock's productive New Mexico mare Rose's Desert (Desert God) can already claim several stakes winners, including G1 Saudi Cup champ Senor Buscador (Mineshaft). Her latest homebred to hit the track is ROSE A (Hard Spun) and just like all the others she is trained by Todd Fincher. Rose's Desert, who is also responsible for GIII Sunland Derby hero Runaway Ghost (Ghostzapper), has a current yearling colt named The Hell We Did (Authentic) and a weanling filly by Into Mischief. Set...

A multiple Grade 1 winner in his native South Africa, and the 2023 champion sprinter, Isivunguvungu (SAf) (What a Winter {SAf}) made his North American debut a winning one with a gutsy effort in the Da Hoss Stakes at Colonial Downs. Victorious in the G1 Mercury Sprint last July in Greyville, and also able to claim the G1 Jonsson Workwear Computaform Stakes earlier that year in April at Turffontein, he also picked up a placing at the highest level via a blanket finish to run third in the G1 Pongracz...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--During his Hall of Fame career, trainer Todd Pletcher has won the GIII Sanford at Saratoga a record eight times. He'll look to pad that stat on Saturday when he saddles Mentee (City of Light) in the six-furlong race, which will be run for the 108th time. "For me, it's always about the 2-year-olds," Pletcher said outside his barn at the Oklahoma Training Track when asked what the most exciting part of training is for him. "The 2-year-old program is fantastic here; the state program is great. We...

1st-Laurel, $46,060, Msw, 6-22, 2yo, f, 5f, 1:00.28, ft, 1 1/4 lengths. SHAREDASHENANIGANS (f, 2, Into Mischief--Sharing {GISW-USA, G1SP-Eng, $1,092,751}, by Speightstown), the first foal out of 2019 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner and 2020 G1 Coronation Stakes runner-up Sharing, was favored at 3-5 while facing four rivals on debut. Her worktab included a four-furlong bullet out of the gate in :48 (1/32) at Graham Motion's Fair Hill base May 24. She pressed the top two from an outside third and rolled up three deep on the far...

2nd-Belmont The Big A, $90,000, Msw, 6-21, 2yo, f, 6fT, 1:09.78, fm, 2 1/4 lengths. WARMING (f, 2, Global Campaign--Haute Style, by Unusual Heat) became the second winner for her freshman sire (by Curlin) with a smart debut score sprinting over the Big A lawn Friday. Drawn widest of all in post nine, the 5-1 chance was under a ride early and outsprinted in sixth. She began to advance beneath Manny Franco on the far turn and kicked home nicely to score by 2 1/4 lengths over favored Good Long...

All four of the stakes winners on the Thursday card at Saratoga exited their respective races in good order according to their conditioners. The Grey Wizard (Ire) (Caravaggio) took home the GII Belmont Gold Cup S. with a timely surge at the wire, which earned the 5-year-old the Golden Ticket for the G1 Melbourne Cup at Flemington Nov. 5. Trainer Graham Motion said, "He looks really good, this morning. I'm very happy with him. He scoped clean and he looks really well." Motion said he will speak with [owner] Aron...

In a race that is longer than the vast majority of Thoroughbred races in the U.S., Thursday's two-mile GII Belmont Gold Cup S. was won in high style by Eclipse Thoroughbreds and The Estate of Albert Frassetto's The Grey Wizard (Ire) (g, 5, Caravaggio--Fancy {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}), who waited until the final moments to close with a rush and nab the narrow victory from Champagne Juan (Justify). With the victory, The Grey Wizard annexed the Golden Ticket for the G1 Melbourne Cup at Flemington Nov. 5. Sent off at...

The $400,000 GIII Penn Mile, the lone graded stakes annually on the Penn National stakes schedule, has attracted a competitive field of 10 and, adding further intrigue to an already challenging handicapping puzzle Friday evening, is the presence of some of this country's top reinsmen, making a rare appearance at the Central Pennsylvania oval. A good many were pushing for an Amerman Racing-owned son of Oscar Performance to contest the GII American Turf S. at Churchill Downs May 4, but GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks winner Endlessly opted for the GI...

Triple Crown winner Justify (Scat Daddy) and 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg})--both in their first year of eligibility--head a list of nine racehorses, six trainers and two jockeys who were named as finalists on this year's Hall of Fame ballot by the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame Nominating Committee Tuesday morning. Also on the ballot are: 2010 champion 3-year-old filly Blind Luck (Pollard's Vision), eight-time Grade I winner Game on Dude (Awesome Again), three-time Eclipse champion Gio Ponti (Tale of the Cat), 2011...