Miss Temple City Set for Royal Ascot Venture

Graham Motion has been in the midst of a balancing act for some weeks now.

On a couple of occasions, the affable trainer has had multiple grade 1 winner Miss Temple City primed for her anticipated seasonal debut. Each time, Mother Nature intervened and forced the team around the 5-year-old mare to go back to the drawing board in an attempt to remain on the desired path of a return trip to Royal Ascot in June.

Given that the big-bodied distaffer has been ready to roll for the better part of a month, Motion is doing all he can to keep her on the ground and her form harnessed in advance of what will be a most ambitious spot for her first outing of 2017. So for her latest turn on the worktab, he gave the daughter of Temple City   a little taste of some race-day atmosphere when he worked her on the turf at Fair Hill Training Center May 27 just prior to the Saturday's slate of steeplechase events.

Trying to find stablemates that can keep pace with Miss Temple City has been a repeated issue for Motion. Grade 3 winner Quidura got the call for said task on Saturday, and the two stablemates worked in company, covering four furlongs in :50 1/5 on the course. It was the seventh move for Miss Temple City since April 10 as she was scratched out of both the Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Stakes Presented by Longines (G2T) May 6 and the May 13 Beaugay Stakes (G3T) at Belmont Park due to rain-soaked turf.

"It's a worry (keeping her in check) and I've been trying to do different things with her," Motion said. "I really wanted her to go over there (on the turf course) today. It's not really a race-day experience but she worked in front of a crowd before the first jump race. It was something that was a little out of the ordinary. I got her off the synthetic surface (at Fair Hill) and on the grass. 

"The biggest problem I have is finding a horse who can go with her. It worked out well today...and they've worked together before. But I really don't have horses that can work with her, so that's been a challenge."

After scratching out of the Beaugay, Motion entertained the idea of bypassing Royal Ascot all together and keeping Miss Temple City stateside for the June 10 Longines Just a Game Stakes (G1T) at Belmont Park. Having watched the mare run fourth in two previous tries at Ascot, including her effort last year in the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes (G2), the potential of finally getting a win in that prestigious forum remained too big a target to give up.

"This was the plan from the start, the only thing that has changed is she didn't get a prep race," said Motion. "We felt that it was something she could handle. She's pretty darn fit, she's been ready to run for three or four weeks now. It's just something that we've had as a plan all along so we just decided to stick with the plan."

Bob Feld, who bred and co-owns Miss Temple City along with Sagamore Farm and Needle In a Haystack, said earlier this week they are still deciding whether the dark bay mare will run against males in the June 20 Queen Anne Stakes (G1) or make a return try in the June 21 Duke Of Cambridge. Both races are contested at the one-mile distance but the Duke of Cambridge is restricted to older fillies and mares.

Motion added that Miss Temple City is scheduled to ship to England on June 12 on the same flight as Mark Casse trainee La Coronel, who is set to start in the June 23 Coronation Stakes (G1).

Miss Temple City has not started since capping off her brilliant 2016 campaign with a win in the Matriarch Stakes (G1T) at Del Mar Dec. 4. That win was her third top-level score of the season, having previously bested males in the Maker's 46 Mile Stakes (G1T) and Shadwell Turf Mile Stakes (G1T), and improved her career mark to six wins from 16 starts with $1,453,038 in earnings.