Motion receives ‘Touch of Class’ award

Well-respected horseman Motion is enjoying a banner season (Jim McCue/Maryland Horse Industry Board) Graham Motion, the Maryland-based trainer who won this year’s Kentucky Derby (G1) with Animal Kingdom (Leroidesanimaux [Brz]) and currently ranks as the nation’s fourth leading trainer, received the Maryland Horse Industry Board’s (MHIB) inaugural “Touch of Class” Award on Tuesday. The award was presented following the Board’s monthly meeting at a luncheon reception at the Baltimore County Center for Maryland Agriculture in Hunt Valley. “The equine industry is an integral part of Maryland’s cultural and economic heritage,” said Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance. “We commend Graham Motion for his extraordinary achievements and for his dedication to Maryland’s horse industry.” The newly-instituted awards program honors a Maryland horse/individual/team/organization or event who demonstrates the highest standard of excellence in the Maryland horse industry. The award will be given industry-wide, on a monthly basis, to recognize the many outstanding accomplishments of Marylanders in the horse world. Although the first recipient represents the horseracing segment of the industry, all aspects of equine disciplines will be considered and voted on for the honor.

“There are so many great horses, horse people and horse happenings in
Maryland that we thought we should recognize and let people know about them on
an ongoing basis,” MHIB chairman Jim Steele said. “This is a strong, dynamic
industry with determined and adventurous people and horses, exhibiting the best
qualities of horsemanship all over the world.”

The award is named after Touch of Class, the small but mighty Maryland-bred
mare who won two Olympic show jumping gold medals. She currently holds the
Olympic record for number of clean jumping rounds in an Olympic competition and
is enshrined in the U.S. Show Jumping Hall of Fame. The mare’s breeder, former
jockey Jennifer Small, also attended the awards ceremony and gave her personal
account of the mare’s accomplishments.

Motion, who bases his operation at the Fair Hill Training Center in Cecil
County, had another big week at the end of August, winning the Del Mar Oaks (G1)
with Summer Soiree (War Front) on August 20 and the Ballston Spa S. (G2) at
Saratoga with Daveron (Ger) (Black Sam Bellamy) on August 27. He also captured
this year’s Wood Memorial (G1) with Toby’s Corner (Bellamy Road).

Motion entered last weekend having saddled 77 winners from 336 starts with
total earnings of near $6.5 million, ranking him as the fourth leading trainer
in the United States.