Irish War Cry ‘Perfect’ in Lone Pre-Derby Breeze Sunday at Fair Hill
Irish War Cry ‘Perfect’ in Lone Pre-Derby Breeze Sunday at Fair Hill
Maryland-Based Multiple G2 Winner Heads to Kentucky Monday
LAUREL, MD – Calling it ‘perfect,’ trainer Graham Motion gave multiple Grade 2 winner Irish War Cry his only work before the May 6 Kentucky Derby (G1) on Sunday at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md.
Isabelle de Tomaso’s homebred was timed in 1:13.20 for six furlongs over the main track under jockey Rajiv Maragh, who drove down from New York for the breeze. Maragh and Irish War Cry teamed up for the first time to win the Wood Memorial (G2) April 8 at Aqueduct.
Video Link for Irish War Cry Work: CLICK HERE.
The 1 1/8-mile Wood was the third stakes victory and second in graded company from five career starts for Irish War Cry, winner of the Holy Bull (G2) Feb. 4 at Gulfstream Park in his 3-year-old debut following back-to-back juvenile victories at Laurel Park including the Marylander Stakes Dec. 31.
“It was the only time I worked him since the Wood, by design. That’s what I do. We don’t usually breeze until three weeks after a race,” Motion said. “I told Rajiv to try and go off in 13 [seconds] which is right what they did on the money, and he finished up in 13 and change. I don’t think it could have gone any better. It was perfect.”
The Wood provided his connections some redemption after Irish War Cry finished seventh as the favorite in the Fountain of Youth (G2) March 4 at Gulfstream, his lone defeat. He is scheduled to van Monday morning from Fair Hill to Louisville, Ky., where he is one of the leading contenders for the Derby.
“The two biggest attributes that he has are his stride, which is tremendous, and his demeanor,” Motion said. “He kind of had this reputation of being a headstrong horse, [but] he’s not a headstrong horse as you just saw. He’s very relaxed. He’s done well being here, I think, for three weeks since the Wood. Now we got to Churchill and see what happens.”
Motion praised the bucolic setting at Fair Hill as having done wonders for Irish War Cry since leaving South Florida and following his win in New York. The trainer won the 2011 Derby with Animal Kingdom, who had a similarly sharp final drill leading up to the race.
“Interestingly it was almost an identical work, time-wise, although obviously we did it with Animal Kingdom at Churchill,” Motion said. “He needed to breeze at Churchill, Animal Kingdom. He’d never even run on the dirt. He probably never breezed on the dirt, so [we] felt it was really important that he had that one work at Churchill. With this horse, I thought it was more important that he stayed here, in this environment.”
“Everybody’s excited,” he added. “You’re on tenterhooks a little bit because you just hope that everything goes all right. That’s all you can hope for.”
