TRAINER GRAHAM MOTION LIVE IN ALL FIVE FESTIVAL OF RACING TURF STAKES

NEW KENT, Va. (July 30, 2026) — After celebrating Secretariat Stakes glory with Trikari at Colonial Downs in 2024, trainer Graham Motion returns to the Festival of Racing with another formidable hand. This time, the Maryland-based conditioner will saddle a runner in each of the day’s five turf stakes.

Dual Grade 1 winner Test Score could give Motion his first Grade 1 Arlington Million victory. Already a winner of this year’s Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational and last year’s Belmont Derby Invitational, the 4-year-old arrives after finishing second by a head in the Grade 1 Manhattan Stakes at Saratoga and remains one of the most consistent turf horses in training.

“I think his general toughness (is his defining attribute),” Motion said. “He’s always so consistent, so game.”

Owned by Amerman Racing, Test Score began his 4-year-old campaign with a head-scratching eighth-place finish in the Grade 1 Turf Classic on the Kentucky Derby undercard.

“His Churchill race is a complete mystery to me,” Motion said. “I just don’t know what happened that day because that’s the only really disappointing race he’s ever run.”

Motion said the colt has continued to develop into an even more imposing athlete this season.

“He really has filled out,” he said. “He’s a magnificent-looking horse.”

The trainer believes Saturday’s 1 1/4-mile distance should suit him perfectly.

“Last year I worried a little bit whether he’d really stay that far,” Motion said. “But this year’s races have indicated he should handle it. I think a mile and a quarter should suit him very well.”

South African Group 1 star Gimme a Nother will look to continue an outstanding American campaign in the Grade 2 $500,000 Beverly D. at 1 3/16 miles. Gimme a Nother won her seasonal debut by capturing the Grade 3 Eatontown Stakes following a delayed start to her campaign.

“She ended up having a bit more time off than we’d wanted because she had a couple of little issues over the winter,” Motion said. “I definitely thought she was ready to run (that day), and I ran her there with this race in mind.”

With a career record of 13-9-3-0, the 6-year-old’s lone finish outside of the top two positions came over rain-softened ground in the 2025 Grade 1 New York.

“It was terrible that day. It was so soft,” Motion said. “It was just a bad experience. If I could have a do-over, I’d have scratched her.”

Motion returns to the Grade 2 $500,000 Secretariat at 1 1/16 miles looking for a second victory in three years after Trikari’s triumph in 2024. This time, he’ll rely on Turf Star, who earned stakes-winning credentials by capturing the James W. Murphy Stakes before facing the nation’s top 3-year-olds and finishing 10th in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby at 1 1/8 miles.

“I don’t think he wants to go that far,” Motion said of the Belmont Derby distance. “To me, he’s more of a miler.”

Despite facing a strong favorite in Alpyland, Motion believes the colt deserves another chance at the graded level.

“(Alpyland) looks very tough, but after that it’s a fairly wide-open race,” he said. “(Turf Star) is as experienced as any of the others, and I just felt he was doing well and we should take a shot.”

Roja enters the $150,000 Andy Guest Stakes in career-best form after winning three straight races, including the Grade 2 Intercontinental Stakes at Saratoga. Motion said Colonial Downs has long been the target for the speedy filly.

“We wanted to give her time (after the Intercontinental),” he said. “She didn’t necessarily need to go back up to Saratoga, so this is the race we’d had in mind.”

The inside post gives the trainer slight pause, though Roja’s natural gate speed provides reassurance.

“She hasn’t done much wrong, has she?” Motion said. “She’s very quick. I worry a little bit about the one hole, but the way she runs it should only help her because she’s always been so clever away from the gate.”

Rounding out Motion’s Festival of Racing squad is veteran South African champion Isivunguvungu (SAF), who enters the $150,000 Van Clief Stakes after a reassuring allowance win in June at Laurel Park, his first victory since scoring the Da Hoss Stakes in 2024. Isivunguvungu will face a deep field of 14, but Motion likes what he’s seen from the 8-year-old in the mornings.

“I thought his last race was very good, obviously against lesser,” Motion said. “This is a proper, deep race. He’s an eight-year-old now, so you never know, but he’s given me every indication of a strong effort from his works in the morning.”

Motion plans to be at Colonial Downs to oversee all five runners.

First post for Saturday’s 12-race program is 12:00 p.m. ET and tickets for the Colonial Downs Festival of Racing are available at ColonialDowns.com.