Graham Motion sends No Show Sammy Jo to the Christophe Clement (G3). (Ryan Thompson)
Gulfstream Park Press
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – He has horses in two of the three feature races on Saturday’s Pegasus World Cup Day programme, but another race halfway through the card has extra significance for trainer Graham Motion.
Motion sends out Newstead Stables’ double-seeded Class 3 No show Sammy Jo in the $175,000 Christophe Clement presented by Don Julio as she seeks a fourth career win.
It will be the 56th edition of the 1.5 kilometer long grass pole for fillies and mares from 4 years old, but the first in honor of the late Clement, who died last May at the age of 59 from a rare form of eye cancer.
Clement contested the La Prevoyante from its inception in 1974, winning the race a record six times in three different decades with Sardaniya (1992), Trampoli (1994), Coretta (1998-99), Irish Mission (2014) and Beautiful Lover (2022). Motion is second on the list with four wins: Mean Mary (2020), Si Que Es Buena (2019), Film Maker (2005) and New Economy (2002).
“I remember talking to Christophe this time last year. I had heard some rumors that he was having health problems, and he was very strong about it,” Motion said. “He said yes, but he wasn’t worried. It’s so sad. He was younger than me and he was such a great coach and had so much going for him. I’m just so sad for the family. It’s so hard.”
Clement, who saddled his first North American winner in 1991, and Motion, who struck out on his own in 1993, had strikingly similar careers. Clement won 2,576 races and more than $184 million in purses, including one Classic win at the 2014 Belmont (G1) with Tonalist.
Motion, 61, has 2,842 lifetime wins and $164 million in purse earnings, and owns one classic win with Animal Kingdom in the 2011 Kentucky Derby (G1). In recent years, he and Clement have been finalists for induction into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame.
Although their biggest victories came on the terrain, Clement and Motion are best known for their success with turf runners. Clement won the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) with Pizza Bianca; all four of Motion’s Breeders’ Cup victories have come on the grass, including two-time Main Sequence champion.
“We were great competitors. We trained for a lot of European owners and trained very similar horses, and I think we had mutual respect for each other,” Motion said. “But we competed a lot, more than most people I would compete with on the track. It’s great for Gulfstream to do this. I think it’s very fitting.”
No Show Sammy Jo enters the Clement after a dominant 5 ¾ length romp in Gulfstream’s 1 3/8-mile Via Borghese on December 24. Prior to that start, the 6-year-old mare was second on Long Island for the second year in a row at a similar distance on the Aqueduct turf – less than 1 ½ lengths combined combined.
“Last time she showed the form I expected from her all year. I always thought she was one of my best mares. She had a bit of a disappointing summer, but I think her last two races were really good,” said Motion. “The mile and a half is a bit of an unknown, but I think that’s probably what she wants to do to be honest.”
First or second in nine of her 13 starts, including six victories, No Show Sammy Jo captured the 1 1/8 mile All Along on the Laurel Park grass track each of the past two years. Her other wins came at one and 1 1/16 miles, and other graded attempts came in the Jenny Wiley (G1) and Gamely (G1) last spring and at Glens Falls (G2) last summer.
“I think it took me a while to figure out what she really wanted to do, and I kind of threw her in the deep end last year as well,” said Motion, who will saddle One Stripe and Test Score in the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) and Heredia in the $500,000 TAA Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf (G2).
“I immediately threw her into first grade at Keeneland, which was asking a lot. I think I got rid of her a little bit,” he added. “She is a really stylish, nice mare to be around. She is a mare that I have always attached great value to.”
Among the eight rivals standing in her way is the formidable 4-year-old filly of George Messina and Michael Lee Fiontrained by Brad Cox. The $2 million earner hasn’t raced since mid-November and has won seven of 10 starts, five of which were stakes, including last year’s Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1), 1 3/8 mile Jockey Club Oaks (G3), 1 5/16 mile Dueling Grounds Oaks (G3) and Regret (G3). The Belmont Oaks and Regret both came at 1 1/8 miles.
Second with a head in last fall’s Rodeo Drive (G2) at Santa Anita, Speed shopper takes victory in the 1 ¼ mile Florence on Turfway Park’s synthetic surface. Seductive angel placed seventh in the Via Borghese after beating No Show Sammy Jo on Long Island. Second via Borghese Brave Greta; Ramsey Pondthird in the Cellars Shiraz and Tropical Park Oaks on the Gulfstream turf; Florence second Arya Stark; Widow winner (G3) 2025 Venice And Weighted averagewith a two-race win streak, are also participating.
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