Motion 'very pleased' with Sharing's Royal Ascot effort

Sharing showed Saturday at Royal Ascot that she’s among the best 3-year-old turf fillies in the world.

The 2019 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Fillies winner ran a hard-earned second in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes. Only Alpine Star finished ahead of Sharing in the one-mile turf trip for sophomore females.

Trainer Graham Motion said Sunday that the Maryland-bred Sharing came out of the race well. She’ll remain in England for a few days’ rest before making the trek back to the U.S.

“This is really like a sporting challenge,” Motion said. “It wasn’t about the money. It wasn’t about the parties. 

“It was about the prestige and taking a shot with a filly like this on a big stage in an international event.”

Sharing became Motion’s third Royal Ascot runner and gave the trainer his best finish at the prestigious meet. 2011 Kentucky Derby champion Animal Kingdom finished his career at Royal Ascot in the 2013 Queen Anne Stakes (G1), and Miss Temple City competed in three different races at the meet from 2015-17.

“I still haven’t won but I am getting closer,” Motion said.

Motion and Sharing’s owners, Eclipse TB Partners and Gainesway Stable, first discussed Royal Ascot as an option for the filly back in the winter. That was after she’d just completed her 2-year-old season with a 14-1 upset of November’s Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita Park.

Motion had Pimlico’s Hilltop Stakes on Sharing’s radar as a pre-Ascot race, but the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out that plan. 

Churchill Downs filled the void when it created the Tepin Stakes, a one-mile turf race for 3-year-old fillies May 23. Sharing scored that day under the Twin Spires, setting up a solid springboard for her trip abroad.

Motion said that “everything fell into place” for Sharing to try Royal Ascot. After a trip from the trainer’s Maryland base to Keeneland, and then from Keeneland to an Indianapolis airport, she flew overseas.

While in England, Sharing stabled with horses running for U.S. trainer Wesley Ward. The Speightstown filly also worked under the care of Alice Clapham, assistant trainer for Motion.

“I always thought she would handle it well over there,” Motion said. “And she did.”

Sharing broke toward the outside Saturday in the Coronation Stakes, settling near the back of the seven-horse field. The field ran in close quarters as it came around the sweeping right-hand turn and into the stretch.

Under jockey Oisin Murphy, Sharing made her stretch run in the four-path. She passed Quadrilateral in the final furlong to move up into second, beaten four lengths by Alpine Star.

“I thought it went very well,” Motion said. “Possibly, we got a little further back than I anticipated, but they also ran pretty quickly up the hill on the backside. I thought Oisin did a great job, and turning for home, I really thought we had a good shot. 

“The winner got the jump on us at the start and then won quite comfortably with a perfect trip. But I was very pleased with her. I thought she put up a really good effort.”

Motion said he’ll give Sharing some time to get comfortable following her trip home. He has another flight in mind for her later this summer, this time to the West Coast for the $250,000 Del Mar Oaks (G1) going 1 1/8 miles Aug. 22.

Sharing is now 6: 4-1-1 lifetime with $856,471 in the bank. She’s built on her breakout 2-year-old season with a solid effort overseas on one of racing’s biggest stages.

“She’s a bigger, stronger, more mature filly – I think even more so on this trip,” Motion said. “I think she’s grown up even more. She handled things really well.”