by Kevin Van Valkenburg, The Baltimore Sun
No matter how hard you work, or how brilliant you may be, the art of training thoroughbred racehorses often comes down to the simple matter of fate…"I supposed it's life-changing because it's what you're going to be remembered for," said Graham Motion ‘83. "We all want to be remembered for something, and I'm always going to be remembered for winning the 137th Kentucky Derby…” Motion's family lived in the United States for several years before his birth, and they moved back to America when he was 16. He finished up his education at Kent School in Connecticut, and then spent a year working on a stud farm in France. The experience helped him realize he had no interest in breeding.
His father helped him get a job with Pennsylvania trainer Jonathan Sheppard, another transplanted Englishman, who soon became Motion's mentor. He did virtually everything while working for Sheppard, from cleaning stalls to winning steeplechase races. He even worked a stint as a jockey and won a small race in 1989. Although he didn't have the genetics to do it long term - Motion still moves with the casual grace of an athlete, but is nearly 6 feet tall - the experience was invaluable. "I think it was a really good thing for me to experience as a trainer," Motion said. "It gives you a very different perspective."
Motion's belief, even now, is that a trainer never stops learning the craft. And that has been his philosophy almost from the beginning… "Graham is very calm about everything… Nothing ever rattles him. And that has an effect on the whole operation, when you think about it. Because of his demeanor, it goes all the way down…” That philosophy had tremendous appeal to Barry Irwin, who runs the Team Valor partnership that owns Animal Kingdom. He wanted his horses in a calm, relaxed, European-style training center, and he didn't want them administered any drugs to help them run. Motion's Derby victory has been celebrated by some in the business because of his reputation as a "clean" trainer. He's never been cited for a medication violation, and last year was one of only two trainers in the Top 20 earnings without a violation, according to The New York Times. "It is something I feel strongly about," Motion said. "I don't like to dwell on it. A lot of people have kind of focused on it around the Derby, and it puts a lot of pressure on us…” Irwin believes Motion has the discipline and the talent to be as good as any trainer in the business.
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Kent’s Graham Motion '83 is trainer of the winning horse in the 137th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Animal Kingdom defied 20-to-1 odds and rallied from behind on the final turn to win by 2 3/4 lengths. Motion called Animal Kingdom a “very, very special horse.” As the colt burst out and then ran away from the pack, he demonstrated it. This year's derby set an all-time attendance mark with 164,858 attendees and millions more world-wide. Both trainer and horse are now preparing for the Preakness, second of the Triple Crown, held in Baltimore on May 21.
Sports Illustrated coverage of the 137th Kentucky Derby features trainer Graham Motion ’83. Motion is a true gentleman who is key not only to Animal Kingdom’s victory, but in the colt’s opportunity to run at Churchill Downs at all. "Motion has earned his voice as a genuine horseman...In an industry fighting a reputation for illegal drug use, Motion has never had a horse test positive for a banned medication...Eight days before the Derby, Motion stood outside his barn at Churchill Downs and said he was still waiting for one of his prospective Derby horses to prove himself capable. One day later, on April 30, Animal Kingdom did just that, working a quick and professional six furlongs...Professional clockers at Churchill similarly took note of the colt's action." Click here to read more.
Tough Talk After Winning the Derby (article from The New York Times)
Kentucky Derby was great victory for horse racing (article from newstimes.com)
