LAUREL, Md.– Trainer Graham Motion has only been able to run Ribaltagaia twice in the nearly 17 months the mare’s been in his barn. Those races, both half-length defeats in listed stakes, came eight months apart.
Saturday, when Motion sends out Ribaltagaia in the Grade 3, $150,000 Gallorette Stakes at Laurel Park he will be doing so four weeks after her most recent start. Motion is hopeful that will help get the 5-year-old daughter of Blame back into the winner’s circle for the first time in two years.
Ribaltagaia is one of eight females entered in the Gallorette, which is scheduled for 1 1/16 miles over Laurel Park’s turf course. She is one of two – Warming being the other – entered by Motion, who has won this race three times.
Ribaltagaia, a Group 2-placed mare in France, had nagging issues that have limited her to just three starts since being sent to the U.S. in the fall of 2024. She was trained by Gianluca Bietolini in France and in her first U.S. start, she finished fourth in the Grade 3 Suwannee River at Gulfstream Park in December 2024.
Last Aug. 30, in the Violet Stakes at Monmouth Park, her first start for Motion, Ribaltagaia made the pace and was beaten a half-length by Breath Away. She didn’t race again until April 18 in the Dahlia, when she chased the pace of Summerintahoe, ultimately finishing third behind her and Mahra’s Love, who is also entered in the Gallorette.
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“She’s a very big filly, she looks like a colt. Hopefully, she will benefit from having a race under her belt,” Motion said. “I don’t think we’ve seen the best of her yet.”
Though she had set the pace in the Violet, Motion did not want jockey Jorge Ruiz to have her on the lead in the Dahlia.
“I was pretty adamant I wanted her to settle,” Motion said. “I think he did the right thing.”
Ribaltagaia, who will be ridden by Junior Alvarado in the Gallorette, could find herself on the lead in a race that appears to lack confirmed pace. Austere and Awesome Czech are potential pace players.
Motion’s other entrant, Warming, will be making her first start on turf since she won the Grade 3 Autumn Miss Stakes at Santa Anita last October. She’s had one race on dirt, and two on synthetic since, including a third-place finish in the Latonia Stakes at Turfway Park on March 21.
“We freshened her up with this in mind,” Motion said. “She had a pretty steady campaign. She was lucky to get a piece of the [Latonia]. I’m confident she’s better on the grass.”
Warming, who won her lone start at 1 1/16 miles, will be ridden by John Velazquez.
Awesome Czech, a three-time New York-bred stakes winner, returns from a freshening following a third in an overnight handicap over Gulfstream’s synthetic on Jan. 24.
“She’s 5 now, she’s put that extra weight on that she needed,” trainer Horacio De Paz said. “It worried me because she’s never carried that much weight before, but she’s healthy and fit.”
Awesome Czech will be ridden from post 8 by Ricardo Santana Jr., who has had success with her from on and off the pace.
“I always leave things in Ricardo’s hands, let him ride his race,” De Paz said.
Trainer Chad Brown, who has won this race six times, sends out the pair of Accent and Child of the Moon. Accent won her first three starts – all at Tampa Bay Downs – before finishing fourth in the Plenty of Grace Stakes at Aqueduct.
“She had a rough trip last time, traffic. I want to give her a chance in another stake,” Brown said.
Child of the Moon, a 6-year-old French-bred daughter of The Grey Gatsby, won the Athenia Stakes in the fall of 2024 but is winless in four starts since.
Mahra’s Love, trained by Michelle Nihei, finished second in the Dahlia with a late run from off the pace. She gets the services of Luis Saez for this race.
Cheetah Lady, trained by Whit Beckman, makes her seasonal debut after finishing second in the Pago Hop Stakes at Fair Grounds last Dec. 27, the 10th race of her 3-year-old season.
Austere, a 5-year-old mare, is just 1 for 11 since winning her first two starts as a 2-year-old.
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