He might be an Englishman living happily in Maryland, but in April and October, Graham Motion is as active at Keeneland as any Kentucky hardboot.
Motion had entries in five races on the Friday opener and three more Saturday, a trend in keeping with recent meets. Motion has been in the top five in wins at five straight meets, dating to fall 2011, and usually is among the leaders in starts.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Wednesday announcement by Keeneland officials that they are scrapping their Polytrack surface after almost eight years was not unlike an earthquake, with aftershocks reverberating as word spread.
Thousands took to social media to express their opinions on the decision to switch, which came only after Keeneland conducted “research on every element of the racetrack for the last year,” according to track president Bill Thomason.
Luis Grandison, the racecaller at El Hipodromo Presidente Remon in Panama City, Panama, from 1978-2003, has been hired by the New York Racing Association to provide calls of its races in Spanish, the first time a North American racetrack has hired a full-time Spanish-speaking caller.
Grandison started at Aqueduct on Thursday, the same day that NYRA announced his hiring. Grandison, 57, has also worked with ABC Radio, KW Continente, and Radio Pan-Americana, according to NYRA.
No Surrender, a striking 3-year-old maiden winner of the third race here March 28, has been purchased by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and will be sent later this week to trainer Todd Pletcher’s string at Churchill Downs.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - After The Admiral won a first-level allowance race at 1 1/16 miles, trainer Bob Baffert had the option of trying to stretch his 3-year-old out farther in distance in an attempt to jump onto the Triple Crown trail.
But Baffert wasn’t overly impressed with The Admiral’s effort in that March 15 race and instead will shorten the son of Giant’s Causeway in distance by running him seven furlongs in Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Bay Shore Stakes.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Sweet Reason will attempt to earn her way to the Kentucky Oaks when she takes on five rivals in Saturday’s $300,000 Gazelle Stakes for 3-year-old fillies.
Sweet Reason, who came off a lengthy layoff to narrowly win a one-mile allowance race March 7, will attempt 1 1/8 miles for the first time in the Gazelle.
“I don’t see why she can’t go any distance with her demeanor,” trainer Leah Gyarmati said. “She’ll sit and sit, and she has a good turn of foot.”
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The Southern California-based apprentice Drayden Van Dyke traveled to his hometown of Hot Springs, Ark., last month and came within a length of winning his first graded stakes race when he guided Please Explain to a third-place finish in the Honeybee at Oaklawn. He returns to the track Saturday to again team with the filly in the Grade 3, $400,000 Fantasy.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – After winning two sprints here this winter, Strapping Groom will now brace for some tougher company when he meets the likes of Sahara Sky and Central Banker in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Carter Handicap at Aqueduct.
Strapping Groom, the winner of last year’s Grade 1 Forego at Saratoga, won the Gravesend by 6 1/2 lengths on Dec. 21 and, after some time off to deal with foot issues, won the Grade 3 Tom Fool, running down Dads Caps inside the final furlong. Dads Caps is among the horses entered in the Carter.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer Mark Casse is pointing Conquest Titan and Thundergram to the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park, and the horses give him a two-pronged approach to the April 12 race. Thundergram has done his best work on the front end, while Conquest Titan is a deep closer.
