Jim Mulvihill: Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to another Road to the Breeders’ Cup National Media Teleconference. We’re now 11 weeks away from the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Santa Anita on October 31st and November 1st. That might sound like a ways off, but really we’re only going to see two more starts at best from the top horses before then, and it’s only about two months until all the final preps will have been run, so now is when we learn who the real contenders are for all of the Breeders’ Cup races.
Today we’re going to focus on turf racing. Arlington hosts its International Festival on Saturday, highlighted by the 32nd running of the Arlington Million. That card features three Grade 1s, also including the Beverly D. for females and the Secretariat for three-year-olds. The Million and the Beverly D. are Breeders’ Cup challenge “Win and You’re In” propositions, carrying automatic berths, paid entry fees and travel for the Breeders’ Cup Turf and the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf respectively. The Million, just so everyone knows, is broadcast locally on Chicago’s WGN.
The day after the Million, it’s one of the East Coast’s most prestigious turf stakes, the Grade 1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga, and that race headlines the national broadcast of “The Jockey Club Tour” on FOX, and that’s Sunday from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on FOX Sports 1.
Now also note that all of these Grade 1 turf stakes this weekend will be live on satellite radio, Sirius Channel 93 and XM 208. Horse Racing Radio will be at Arlington on Saturday from 4:30 to 7, and “Down the Stretch” is at Saratoga on Sunday from 5 to 6.
There’s a few other Grade 1 events to note this weekend. Saratoga on Saturday, the feature is the Alabama. We’ll be touching on that later in this call. Stopchargingmaria heads the probables for that one. Then on Sunday, the Del Mar Oaks will hopefully be led by multiple Grade 1 winner, Fashion Plate.
One more reminder from our friends at The Jockey Club, last Sunday’s Round Table, the transcripts as well as a video replay and all of the visual aids from the presentation, all of that is now available online at jockeyclub.com.
Now, let’s get to our guests. Later in this call we’re going to have Graham Motion. He’s got starters in three of the Grade 1s this weekend. We’ve got Dale Romans. He runs Finnegans Wake in the Million and O’Prado Ole the next day in the Sword Dancer. And we’ve got Anna Seitz, whose partnership, mostly newcomers to horse ownership, campaigned I’m Already Sexy, who is in the Beverly D.
Before all that, though, we get to start with trainer Malcolm Pierce, who has Up With the Birds trying the Million on Saturday. Let me tell you a little bit about Malcolm before we bring him in. Pierce was born in Ireland. He grew up in Ontario. Started out with show horses before getting involved with racing in the early ’80s. He worked as an assistant of Jim Day for 13 years, and then continued in association with Sam-Son Farm after that. He went out on his own in ’97, and then reconnected with Sam-Son a few years ago. Typically he races at Woodbine, Keeneland and the Fair Grounds. He has 21 graded stakes wins to his credit, and got his first Grade 1 in the Jamaica last fall at Belmont with the horse we’re going to talk about today; that is the 2013 Canadian Horse of the Year, Up With the Birds.
So, Malcolm Pierce, you’re on with Jim Mulvihill in New York. Thanks for joining us.
Malcolm Pierce: Well, thanks for having me.
Jim Mulvihill: All right. Well, it’s our pleasure. Let’s talk about the last race for Up With the Birds. That was in the Nijinsky. Really strong performance. He kind of muscled his way out at the top of the stretch and then just blew past the field fairly effortlessly. What was your impression of, not just that race, but especially his finish that day?
Malcolm Pierce: I was quite impressed with him. I mean there was a very quick pace out front; two horses had hooked up. But, you know, he showed a lot of determination, and like you said, he had to push his way out a little bit and finished very strong. I mean I think the pace helped him look even better, but he seems to be rounding into his form from last fall.
Jim Mulvihill: Was the Million already on your radar before that effort, or was that so impressive that then you thought, well, we have to consider it?
Malcolm Pierce: Yes, no we had a meeting with the owners, and that—the Million became a lot more on our radar. It was on our radar, but it came a lot more of a surer thing to do after that race, because we have a race here the same day called the Sky Classic, and I have another horse called Aldous Snow, so we’re going to try to let him run in that race and we’re going to take Up With the Birds to Chicago.
Jim Mulvihill: Terrific. Well, that Nijinsky was the first win of the year for Up With the Birds. Prior to that, did it take him awhile to come around, or did he have excuses at Keeneland and then in the Dixie at Pimlico?
Malcolm Pierce: Well, probably at Keeneland he needed a race. You know, he missed a little bit more time this winter from his holiday than we had planned on, and, you know, he got back to me a little bit late at the Fair Ground. So the screws weren’t tightened really very well for the first race at Keeneland, so that was kind of a, you know, practice effort, and he got something out of that race. Then he ran a very good race I thought at Pimlico, even though he was only sixth. He wasn’t beaten very far, and he’s just improved all along. So hopefully he can step up another notch to be with Grade 1 horses on Saturday.
Jim Mulvihill: How is he in the mornings? I mean I’m looking at his works on paper and the thing that I find really interesting is that he seems to work pretty fast for it being on the turf with the dogs up. But being a closer like he is, what’s he like in the mornings and how is he training?
Malcolm Pierce: Well, he’s training wonderfully coming into this race, but he only does as much as you ask him for. You know, some of his works that are a little slower I’ll leave the blinkers off and that kind of stuff, but his last work I wanted to get something into him and make sure that he was tight enough for this race. He worked with a horse in company and started behind him and finished up together. But you have to ask him. He’s a little bit lazy in the mornings, which is probably a good thing because he conserves his energy.
Jim Mulvihill: Yes. All right, well, Malcolm, if you’ll hang on for a second, I’m going to give it back to Michelle, and she’s going to check with the media on the line and see if they have questions for you.
Malcolm Pierce: Thank you.
Danny Brewer: Let’s talk for a second about the international flavor of the Arlington Million. Is that one of the things that is attractive for you as a trainer, and do you think that’s going to be good for Up With the Birds, too?
Malcolm Pierce: Oh, definitely. I mean there’s going to be some European flavor there, and, you know, it’s obviously a Grade 1 race; it’s a million dollar purse. You know, it would be a big feather in this horse’s cap, and, you know, might help for his stallion career down the road to win a race like this.
Danny Brewer: If things go the way you want, Breeders’ Cup, is that what’s next on the radar you think for this horse?
Malcolm Pierce: Well, that’s a good possibility, especially if he gets a free ride there; happen to get lucky and win the Arlington Million, because we do have a race here at Woodbine called Canadian International that’s in a couple weeks. He couldn’t do both races. So I guess we’ll just sit down with the owners after the Arlington race and make a decision on his next start. But we take it one at a time even though we have a plan, but sometimes plans get derailed.
Danny Brewer: You mentioned something about he’s a little lazy in the mornings and you’ve got to push him. Is knowing your horse one of the things that been key to you helping him be successful?
Malcolm Pierce: I think it’s key to any training of any horse. You know, I’ve had this horse from the time he probably, you know, in June as a two-year-old, and he’s been with me other than for his little breaks on the farm in the wintertime. You know, I see him day in and day out, and you get to know the horses and their quirks. I don’t worry if he gets outworked by another horse in the morning, because I know he’ll show up in the afternoon.
Danny Brewer: Malcolm, I appreciate your time, and, man, I wish you the best of luck.
Malcolm Pierce: Thank you. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.
Jim Mulvihill: . Malcolm, before we let you go, I’m just wondering if you could talk a little bit about the Samuels and training for an operation that you worked for so long early in your career; what that relationship’s like and just training for Sam-Son.
Malcolm Pierce: Well, they breed very good horses, as you know. They’ve got a top class broodmare band that—and they go to the best stallions money can get to, and, you know, they’re great people to train for. We’ve—we didn’t have a horse for our Woodbine Oaks this year, and we didn’t have a horse for our Queen’s Plate, which are our two biggest—you know—two of our bigger races for three-year-olds here at Woodbine, and, you know, they’re very understanding. They know that happens some years, and they don’t push to run a horse in there just to see their silks go around. So, you know, that’s great. There’s a lot less pressure, you know, and not running—we try to run horses in spots and we try to keep our win average up. But they’re wonderful people and they supply very good horse to train.
Jim Mulvihill: Interesting. I was looking through the list of past Arlington Million winners and it’s really the elite of international horse ownership. I mean this is a race that only seems to be won by the biggest and most prestigious operations, and it seems easy to be able to picture Sam-Son joining that list.
Malcolm Pierce: Well, I’d love it to happen, and we’re sure going to give it our best try on Saturday.
Jim Mulvihill: Excellent. Well, Malcolm, I really appreciate you joining us today, and good luck on Saturday. We’ll see you in Chicago.
Malcolm Pierce: Well, thank you very much, and we’ll be trying our best.
Jim Mulvihill: All right. Thanks so much. That’s Malcolm Pierce. He’s got Up With the Birds in the Arlington Million; last year’s Canadian Horse of the Year.
Now we’ll move on. We’ve got four guests today, so we’re going to try and roll right through them. Moving on now to Graham Motion. We’ll run through the bio real quick before bringing Graham on. Motion was born in England, the son of a Tattersalls bloodstock agent. The family moved to the US in 1980. After college, Graham worked for Jonathan Sheppard, and then spent time in France where he met his wife, Anita, at Chantilly. He came back to the US to work for trainer Bernie Bond, and when Bond died in 1993, Motion went out on his own. He’s had 14 Grade 1 wins going back 10 or 11 years from Film Maker, and Better Talk Now, to his Kentucky Derby and Dubai World Cup winner, Animal Kingdom. Then to most recently, the UN Stakes winner, Main Sequence, who runs in the Sword Dancer on Saturday. We’re also going to talk about Fortune Pearl in the Alabama, and Can’thelpbelieving in the Secretariat. I also have to mention Graham’s most recent milestone. Last night he was a judge at the Jockey Karaoke Contest, to benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys’ Fund last night. That was in Saratoga Springs.
Graham Motion, it’s Jim Mulvihill in New York. Thanks for being on with us.
Graham Motion: Hi, Jim. I was hoping that’s what we were going to discuss.
Jim Mulvihill: Yes, well, most important things first. So tell us about the karaoke contest last night? How was it?
Graham Motion: The jockeys are terrible singers, but they raised lots of money. It was a great evening.
Jim Mulvihill: You have to tell us who won. I didn’t hear who won.
Graham Motion: It was actually a group of Rajiv Maragh, (inaudible). They did a very good version of “YMCA”.
Jim Mulvihill: Terrific. You actually kind of did the Simon Cowell thing from what I understand.
Graham Motion: That’s right. It was a great evening, and I think they raised lots of money.
Jim Mulvihill: Excellent, excellent. Well, all right, enough about that. Let’s talk about horses; that’s why we’re actually on this call. You know, your Saratoga meet has been exceptional. You’re in the top five going into the second half of the season. Tell us why you suppose the barn’s so hot right now? I mean is this just the normal cycle of horses or has something changed in your barn over the last year?
Graham Motion: I don’t think anything’s changed. I mean I felt like we probably had a strong of group going up there as I’ve had before, particularly having two-year-olds to run. You know, I’m usually not that brave about running two-year-olds up there, because it’s so competitive, but I feel like we’ve got a solid group of two-year-olds. Cleveland Sound I thought was very competitive the other day and probably a little unlucky at the Stake. On the turf races we’re very strong, and I, you know, it’s a little frustrating. We started off the first week with plenty of winners, and we’ve had a lot of seconds in the second week, which mostly they’ve run very well. It’s frustrating not to come away with winning some of the head (inaudible).
Jim Mulvihill: Right. Well, you mentioned success on the turf, so let’s talk about Main Sequence going in the Sword Dancer. Last time out in the UN, very impressive, especially first North American start off a layoff. That’s a pretty ambitious spot to pick for a comeback. Are you—you must’ve loved how he was doing going into that race?
Graham Motion: Well, to be honest, it was plan B. I had originally planned to take him to Arlington for one of the prep races for this weekend, but, you know, when he came to me over the winter, he got very sick. He actually got pneumonia off the traveling from England, and I was just a little nervous about shipping him all the way to Chicago for that reason. I thought the United Nations wasn’t coming up a crazy tough race, but when I really looked close at his form, you know, he’s been running against some of the best in Europe, so I thought it was worth taking the chance.
Jim Mulvihill: Then, you know, he had to run hard to get there in the UN. You know, some old school handicappers would maybe fear a regression or a bounce, if you will, under these circumstances. Is that a concern to you?
Graham Motion: Yes, definitely. I mean that’s always a big concern for me. But I would like to think he’s had plenty of time to get over the United Nations. I mean he really has done well. I know we always say that, of course, that they’re doing great, but I feel like he’s done well since the United Nations. I actually think he stood up to the conditions. I really couldn’t have been happier. He’s had several works. He worked through to this weekend. So as much as I—I’m always concerned about the bounce, I feel that he’s coming through it very well.
Jim Mulvihill: Well, that’s very encouraging. Okay and we can’t only talk about Main Sequence here. You’ve also got Fortune Pearl on Saturday in the Alabama; the Delaware Oaks winner. Just give us a little taste of how she’s doing?
Graham Motion: Yes, I mean this filly’s really been a pleasant surprise to me. She just keeps on improving. You know, after she ran in the Black-Eyed Susan, we really pointed to the Delaware Oaks. We trained her at Delaware. I thought she ran a big race that day. Obviously this is a really big step up in competition, but she’s doing great, and I think the distance should be well within her scope, which hopefully it might not be for some of the others.
Danny Brewer: Fortune Pearl, let’s talk about her for just a moment. Is she somewhat of a hidden gem, if you will, in your stable?
Graham Motion: Yes, absolutely. I mean she’s a filly that’s never been (inaudible) in the morning, and that’s why we started doing the training race. She’s just continued to progress. She’s a very—great forward filly to train in the morning; a very nice filly to be around. I’ve had her up at Saratoga for three works with the idea of, you know, I think it’s really important for these horses to train up there over that surface. So, you know, I don’t know for sure how she’s going to fit in this race, but I think she genuinely deserves a shot.
Danny Brewer: Well, she seems to have always been right there. I guess in her seven starts she’s been in the money every time but once. So maybe this is going to be a measuring stick for her to see is she really that class of horse, do you feel?
Graham Motion: Yes, definitely. I think this is a big step. This is, you know, she’s got to run with the big girls, so we’ll find out where we’re at on Saturday.
Paul Mazur: Thank you, Mr. Motion, for taking my question. Why did you end up choosing the Grade 1 Sword Dancer versus the Grade 1 Arlington Million for Main Sequence?
Graham Motion: You know, besides it being my preference, (inaudible) has a horse coming from Europe to run in the Arlington Million, so it just really made sense that we separated them to be honest.
Paul Mazur: Can you also talk a little bit, please, about Can’thelpbelieving who you have in the Grade 1 Secretariat coming up on Arlington Million Day at—in Chicago?
Graham Motion: Yes, I mean this is going to be a big step for him, but he’s a horse that clearly needs the distance. He just won going a mile and three furlongs at Saratoga in an allowance race. The horse he beat that day actually just came back and won since then. So, you know, the form is good, and this is something that Can’thelpbelieving needs. He needs the distance, and there aren’t that many opportunities to do it, so that’s why we’re bringing him to Chicago.
Paul Mazur: Do you think going from an allowance to a Grade 1 is a concern?
Graham Motion: Yes, of course it’s a concern, but you’re somewhat limited as to where you can point longer distance three-year-olds at this stage of the game. So, you know, I’m never afraid to take a shot. One of the biggest races I’ve won in my career has been at long odds, so I’m not one to be afraid to take a shot.
Paul Daley: Graham, thank you so much for taking the call. I write for the Lowell Sun in Massachusetts, and I’ll be forever grateful when you shipped up to Suffolk. You know, trainers like you and Nick Zito and others, they’ve done so much for racing around the country, and thank you for that. But my question is that, you know, as far as this weekend at Alabama, it’s tough and it gets—yes, I’m going to be up there covering the Travers, and, you know, but it gets shuffled a little bit there. But it looks like a great race, and can you handicap it, and go on from there?
Graham Motion: Well, obviously Todd’s filly is going to be the filly to beat. You know, she is—I think she’s won two in a row now. She beat her fair and square in the Black-Eyed Susan. But I think, you know, my hope is that the mile and a quarter’s going to be a bit of an equalizer, and I—I’m just not sure everyone’s going to want to go that far. I think that with the stamina and my filly’s pedigree there’s a good chance she should handle it.
Paul Daley: Okay. You know, as far as your success this year at Saratoga, you know, every owner and every trainer wants to win there. Can you point your horses for either Belmont or Saratoga, or—because you’re just going to run out of conditions? Can you talk about that?
Graham Motion: I mean we certainly gear our horses to certain meets throughout the year; Keeneland and Saratoga being the ones in particular. You know, you really do point the horses for them. The purses are phenomenal. Like you say, everybody wants to win there, and most of the time, you know, the races are going to fill, which makes it much easier to point horses for, whereas at a lot of the tracks these days, you’re not necessarily going to get the race that you pick out for a horse to fill, which makes training quite difficult. So, you know, I’m extremely fortunate that—to be competitive this year in big races like the Alabama, and I think for any trainer to have a horse running in the Alabama, I mean these are races that have tremendous history behind them. I was lucky enough to win the Whitney at Saratoga several years ago, and those are very special races to be a part of.
Paul Daley: Yes, and as far as the Alabama, the breeding rights.
Graham Motion: Absolutely. You know, I think growing up, you know, you remember the winners of the Alabama, and it’s very thrilling to be part of it.
Jim Mulvihill: Graham, I also wanted to ask about the Lake Placid. Was there a decision on Daring Dancer in that on Saturday?
Graham Motion: I’m leaning against running. It’s just coming back a little quick for my filly. She has an invitation to run in the Queen Elizabeth in October at Keeneland, which is a Grade 1, and would be so important for her if she was able to win a Grade 1. So I’ve tended to race her fairly conservatively, and I think we’ll probably continue along that path.
Jim Mulvihill: Very good. Well, thank you for the information on that. Graham, we’ll let you go. Thank you so much for joining us. Always a pleasure to talk to you and good luck this weekend with all of these Grade 1 entrants you’ve got.
Graham Motion: Happy to do it. Thanks a lot.
Jim Mulvihill: All right, Graham Motion. Always a threat up at Saratoga, but especially this meet. So watch out for Main Sequence in the Sword Dancer and Fortune Pearl in the Alabama, and, of course, in Chicago on Saturday we’ll get to see Can’thelpbelieving.
Now we’ll move on to trainer Dale Romans. If you need a Roman file, I’ll just refer you to the transcript from our July 22nd call. We just had Dale on a few weeks ago to talk about Medal Count, so you can find that on NTRA.com. This Saturday Dale has O’Prado Ole in the Sword Dancer, and then Sunday he’ll be at the Million with Finnegans Wake, who was fourth in that race last year. Both of them are owned by Donegal Racing.
Dale, it’s Jim Mulvihill. Thanks for being with us again.
Dale Romans: Hey, thanks for having me again. What does that bio say? I want to see it myself.
Jim Mulvihill: I’ll e-mail it to you and you can touch it up and send it back to me.
Dale Romans: All right.
Jim Mulvihill: Dale, both of these horses started last time at Arlington, and O’Prado Ole actually ran big and showed that he deserves a chance in these kind of races. So I’m wondering if you can tell us about the conversations that you had with Jerry Crawford and how you came to the decision to split them up as opposed to maybe taking two shots at the Million.
Dale Romans: Well, O’Prado Ole showed that maybe the mile and a half was going to put him over the tipping point where he could start running with the best, and so he—or at least stretch him out a little bit further. I don’t know what distance would be his best at the end of the day, but—and, you know, we went from the two of them getting beat at Churchill, but he was just training so good we gave him a shot at Arlington. He proved it to be a good decision, and Saratoga was pretty much the obvious place to go.
Jim Mulvihill: Right.
Dale Romans: With Finnegan, he’s run well at Arlington every single time he’s run. He was fourth in the Million last year. He ran big in the Secretariat as a three-year-old. Here it came up a short field for a million; it’s just hard to pass up.
Jim Mulvihill: You would think that he was going to break through and get this Grade 1 eventually, right? I mean I don’t—none of us know if Saturday’s the day, but…
Dale Romans: Yes. Jerry and I have talked about it, and, you know, he’s run second in a Grade 1 already, but there’s Grade 1s and there’s Grade 1s. I mean there’s Arlington Million, Travers, Pacific Classic. I mean when you see them on your pedigree, they’re a little more than just an average race, and—or even some other Grade 1s. So you’ve got to take a shot at it. He likes the racetrack; a short field. You know, the race is full of good old class horses, but early on in their game. You really don’t know until you show up and try them.
Jim Mulvihill: Sure, and, you know, despite the fact that he’s only got two wins over the past two years, he shows up in most of these races. I mean he just hasn’t been able to get the wins, but he runs every time for the most part.
Dale Romans: He does. He runs hard almost every time if he gets—and he’s a horse that’s kind of a victim of how the race sets up somet