Miss Temple City on schedule for Royal Ascot

Miss Temple City is on course for the Coronation at Royal Ascot next month (Jim McCue/Maryland Jockey Club) Trainer Graham Motion said Miss Temple City, winner of the May 15 Hilltop S. at Pimlico, is on schedule to ship to England for the June 19 Coronation S. (Eng-G1) at Royal Ascot. “I’ve always wanted another opportunity to go back over there,” said Motion, who saddled Kentucky Derby (G1) and Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) winner Animal Kingdom to an 11th-place finish in the 2013 Queen Anne S. (Eng-G1) at Royal Ascot. “I love the fact she can go over there and run against three-year-olds and not open company, which is hard to do. I like that she can run against three-year-olds, go a mile, which we know she can do, and she’s a filly who has never run on Lasix and that’s a big fact, too.” Miss Temple City, who won the Hilltop by 2 3/4 lengths, finished third in the Sweetest Chant S. (G3) at Gulfstream in January and second in the Appalachian S. (G3) at Keeneland in April. Motion said he’s also looking forward to running at Royal Ascot because he won’t have to run against undefeated Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) and Appalachian winner Lady Eli (Divine Park), who “looks awfully good, and if (Miss Temple City) stays here she has to run with her.”

Motion said he’ll likely work Miss Temple
City at Fair Hill once before leaving.

“My inclination would be to give her a work
before she left, probably over the steeplechase course,” the horseman explained.
“As long as the ground is all right, I want to give her a nice work under
similar circumstances that she’s going to have to deal with over there. Fair
Hill has that. The steeplechase course, the last quarter of a mile, is uphill. I
think it’s a perfect scenario for her to get some experience for that.

“So that’s my idea, to gallop her there once or twice and then breeze her
before she leaves.”

Motion also said Donworth (Tiznow), the beaten favorite when third in
the May 16 Sir Barton S. at Pimlico, will likely run in the $150,000 Easy Goer
S. on
Belmont Stakes Day, June 6.

“All the handicappers and everyone tell me he ran his race
and he was just up against the inside speed bias,” Motion stated. “I think it’s a
fair comment to say that in retrospect. I’m not as disappointed two weeks later
than I was on the day of. I think he ran his race and he was beaten by a nice
horse, and he came out of the race well.

“He’s such a big horse that he has trouble getting away from the gate and
trouble getting around tighter turns. It’s always been an issue. I think the
wider turns at Belmont should help him.”

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