Graham Motion's Breeders' Cup contenders got a chance to stretch their legs on the refurbished turf course Oct. 24 at Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., as the trainer sent his trio of Mean Mary, Alda, and Invincible Gal through their penultimate moves for the World Championships.
Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T) contender Mean Mary went five furlongs in 1:02 in some classy company, as multiple grade 1 winner Sharing matched strides through five furlongs in 1:02 3/5. Sharing is pointing toward the Nov. 29 Matriarch Stakes (G1T) at Del Mar after battling a foot issue this fall.
"Mean Mary went super," Motion said. "It's only the second time we've been over there (since the course was redone). We galloped her there for the first time on Wednesday, and then today we breezed. They went from the half-mile pole and went out five-eighths past the wire. I thought they both handled it really well."
Motion said he considers the uphill topography of the course a bonus in preparing Mean Mary for the Breeders' Cup as she comes off an 11-week layoff. The 4-year-old Scat Daddy filly has run well fresh this season, winning the Jan. 25 La Prevoyante Stakes (G3T) and March 28 Orchid Stakes Presented by Rood & Riddle (G3T) at Gulfstream Park and the June 27 New York Stakes (G2T) at Belmont Park. She was second last out in the Aug. 23 Diana Stakes (G1T) at Saratoga Race Course.
"I was really glad to have the chance to take her over there; I thought it was important," Motion said. "She hasn't run for a long time, and it gives her the chance to do something different and get some fitness into her. It's uphill all the way from the half-mile pole; it's quite a steady climb, which is pretty much how it used to be but it's more finessed now, and then it's downhill from the mile down to the half-mile.
"With Sharing, it gave me the chance to get her off the synthetic where she's been breezing and get her onto another surface to work."
Alda, a 2-year-old Munnings homebred for Wertheimer and Frere, and Invincible Gal, a juvenile daughter of Invincible Spirit who races for Michael Ryan, Jeff Drown, and Team Hanley, worked four furlongs together in :49. Both are pointing toward the Nov. 6 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T).
Motion's trio, along with grade 3 winner Bye Bye Melvin—the Uncle Mo half brother to Mean Mary who is slated for the Nov. 6 Bryan Station Stakes on the Breeders' Cup undercard—will ship from Maryland to Kentucky Nov. 2 after putting in final works at Fair Hill.
Motion said he welcomes the unveiling of the new turf course at the training center, his home base.
"It's really exciting for us," he said. "It gives us a whole other tool. We've had it before to use it, but we've never had it in the kind of condition it's in now. It's as good as any turf course in the country now. It's beautifully done, and it's a huge asset for us at Fair Hill."
