DEL MAR, Calif. – Veteran turf sprinter Motorious continues to outrun Father Time, and on Saturday at Del Mar he will run in a stakes he has already won but that no horse his age has ever won.
Winner of the Grade 3 Green Flash Handicap at ages 5 and 6, Motorious seeks his third straight victory in the five-furlong turf sprint. But now he is another year older, and 7-year-olds and up never win the Green Flash – 18 tried, none won, three finished second.
Despite his age, Motorious, runner-up in the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar, has not lost a step based on his Grade 3 Daytona win June 14 and his workouts since.
“I’ve seen the same horse training the same way for the last couple of years,” trainer Phil D’Amato said. “Antonio [Fresu] breezed him the other day with a nice, flashy drill.”
D’Amato was essentially saying Motorious is ready to fire.
A five-time graded winner, 3 for 4 on Del Mar turf, Motorious tops a deep field in the $150,000 Green Flash, race 9 Saturday. Fifteen entered, 12 can start in the Win and You’re In for the BC Turf Sprint.
Green Flash contenders include graded stakes-winning filly Queen Maxima, stakes-winning speedball Coppola, and Grade 1 route winner Beyond Brilliant. Comebacking graded stakes winner First Peace and streaking also-eligible Wound Up are also entered.
Motorious runs best from behind a contested pace, and there is plenty of pace Saturday, including shipper Coppola, who will be ridden by Vincent Cheminaud. Instructions from trainer Dale Romans will be simple.
“He’s not that hard, just push the gas,” Romans said.
However, 11-for-34 Coppola faces pressure from speedsters Virat, Book Smart, and Boss Sully. If he gets into the field, Wound Up would add more heat. The more pace, the better for Motorious. He is fresh, making just his second start this year and first since June.
“We thought if we started a little bit later, we could run him through the year and possibly entertain going overseas with him early next year,” D’Amato said, referring to lucrative turf sprints in Saudi Arabia and Dubai. Motorious, a gelding owned by Antony Fanticola, has won nine races and $867,604 from 22 starts.
D’Amato also starts stakes-placed Sorrento Sky, who had a tough trip finishing third in his recent comeback. “He kind of broke up in the air and got squeezed,” D’Amato said. “I think that was a good setup race for the Green Flash.”
Sorrento Sky’s rider is Umberto Rispoli.
Queen Maxima would be the first filly to win the Green Flash. She had won five straight turf sprints, including two Grade 3s, before she stretched to a mile on turf last month. Queen Maxima was blocked in the stretch and finished sixth.
“She’s not a route horse,” trainer Jeff Mullins said. “And she’s got something to prove now.”
Queen Maxima, 6 for 10, will be ridden by Juan Hernandez and figures for a pressing trip just off the speed.
First Peace has not raced since he won the Grade 2 Eddie D last September at Santa Anita, a hillside race that trainer Mark Glatt will target again. He said the Green Flash is “a start-back point.”
Could late-runner First Peace win even if the Green Flash is only a prep? “If there is plenty of speed in there, I wouldn’t put it past him,” Glatt said.
There is plenty of speed, and Del Mar turf sprints have recently been fair to all running styles. Mike Smith rides First Peace.
Wound Up won five straight after trainer Librado Barocio claimed him from a win for $10,000. Barocio initially planned to start Wound Up in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby on July 26, and hold Lovesick Blues for the Green Flash. But Wound Up was not ready for the Bing Crosby, so Lovesick Blues ran and won. Wound Up’s comeback was postponed until Saturday on turf.
“There’s something special about this horse, he just keeps winning,” Barocio said. Wound Up’s works for his first start in three months are slow, which is typical. “I don’t work horses fast, I know he can run,” Barocio said. “I just want to get him there.”
Wound Up is the first horse in from the also-eligible list.
Beyond Brilliant, a 7-year-old who won the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby in 2021, shortens up after setting a blazing pace and finishing eighth in an allowance turf mile. Sidelined 2 1/2 years with a tendon injury, Beyond Brilliant is making his third start back on Saturday.
– additional reporting by Steve Andersen
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