Chelsea Durand Photo

Time and Motion looks to regroup in G3 Beaugay

by Heather Pettinger

Trainer Jimmy Toner will aim for his third win in the Grade 3, $150,000 Beaugay when he sends out multiple graded stakes winner Time and Motion at 1 1/16 miles on the grass Saturday at Belmont Park.

By Tapit and out of the stakes winning Kris S. mare Ellie’s Moment, Time and Motion will try to get back on track following a sixth-place finish in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley on April 15 at Keeneland. 

As a 3-year-old, Time and Motion kicked off her sophomore campaign with a three-race win streak before finishing a close second to Catch a Glimpse in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks. She turned the tables on Catch a Glimpse with a neck victory in the Grade 2 Lake Placid last summer at Saratoga and picked up a gutsy Grade 1 win in the Queen Elizabeth II that fall at Keeneland. Time and Motion shipped west to close out 2016 in the Grade 1 Matriarch at Del Mar, finishing sixth behind Miss Temple City.

Deciding where to get started for her 4-year-old season, Toner’s original plan was to wait for the Beaugay but, encouraged by her spring training, he decided to take a shot in the Wiley, where she finished three lengths behind a venerable pair in Dickinson and Lady Eli.

“I got a little ahead of myself,” said Toner, who won the 2007 and 2012 editions of the Beaugay with Masseuse and Winter Memories, respectively. “I knew I was behind the other fillies in the race as far as training was concerned, but she got to doing so well I felt like it would be OK. She just wasn’t 100 percent ready, so she came up a little bit empty the last part of it. 

“It was against Lady Eli and Dickinson; it was a solid field,” he added. “She’ll definitely improve off of that. She got that race into her and this was the race I was originally pointing for, so we’re here and we’ve got one under our belt.”

Toner added that Time and Motion will don blinkers for the first time in the Beaugay, an equipment change he and jockey John Velazquez have long kicked around to sharpen her focus.

“She won five races last year so you’re not sure you ever want to change anything, but she’s always been that type of filly that’s always looking around and losing focus,” he said. “Then after that last race, Johnny and I talked about it and he said, ‘it’s time, let’s just put them on.’ Johnny breezed her with the blinkers on and she went very nicely. She stayed focused all the way and I couldn’t be happier with how she’s coming into the race.”

Velazquez has the mount aboard Time and Motion. The pair will break from post 4.

Trainer Graham Motion, meanwhile, is hoping for a bit of weather luck this weekend for multiple Grade 1 winner Miss Temple City. Motion scratched his star mare from the Grade 2 Distaff Turf Mile on the Kentucky Derby undercard last Saturday, intended as a prep for England’s famous Royal Ascot meet, when the turf course at Churchill Downs came up softer than preferred.

“Originally she was going to run at Keeneland but she had a little incident in Florida,” Motion said. “She got loose one day and came up with a little inflammation in her legs. She missed two or three weeks of training so that kind of set us back. Then we were going to run [last] Saturday but I was worried about running her on a weird, soft turf course coming off a minor injury plus a layoff to boot. I’m afraid I’ll probably find myself in the same situation this weekend. We’ve talked about going to Ascot without a race and if that happens, that happens. I’d like to run this weekend, but I don’t know.”

Miss Temple City drew post 8 with Edgar Prado named to ride.

Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey will be represented by a pair of runners, led by Stuart S. Janney III’s homebred stakes winner On Leave. By War Front, the 4-year-old sister of multiple graded stakes winner Ironicus will be making her first start since finishing fourth in the Queen Elizabeth II, her only defeat in five starts in the year.

“We gave her some time off after that race and she reacted to that really well,” said McGaughey. “Her breezes have been good, especially her last two on the turf, and I’m looking forward to getting her back. She’s stronger, body-wise, and she knows what’s going on now. I’m pleased with the way she’s doing. It’s going to be a tough spot to start her out, but it’s a spot to start her out. It’s a long year.”

McGaughey will also saddle All in Fun, supplemented into the race for Janney.

On Leave will be ridden by Jose Ortiz from post 7, while All in Fun will have the services of Javier Castellano from post 5.

Chad Brown will send a formidable duo in 2016 Grade 2 Canadian winner Rainha Da Bateria and Grade 1 Diana heroine Dacita. Dacita, who also won the Grade 2 New York last spring at Belmont, will be ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr. from post 6. Rainha Da Bateria will break from the rail with Joel Rosario aboard.

Rounding out the field for the Beaugay are My Sweet Girl for trainer Barclay Tagg; Hawksmoor from the barn of Arnaud Delacour.