DEL: Motion brings solid trio to Kent, Christiana Stakes
Turf Star favored in Kent
The Biz
June 25, 2026
Trainer Graham Motion has made a cottage industry of winning Delaware Park turf stakes, and he’s hoping Saturday’s pair of added-money events extends the good fortune.
Motion’s local record includes four wins in the Christiana for three-year-old fillies and a victory in last year’s Kent Stakes for sophomores, both of which will be renewed Saturday. He also owns a record 10 wins in the Grade 3 Robert G. Dick Memorial.
Motion has three entered in Saturday’s local stakes: Kent 5-2 morning-line favorite Turf Star and 8-1 shot Kravitz, along with Bless Her, the 7-2 second choice in the Christiana. Both races are contested at 1 1/8 miles on the turf and offer purses of $150,000.
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In the Christiana, Bregman Family Racing’s To a Flame is the 3-1 morning-line favorite in a field of eight. Trained by George Arnold II, the daughter of Justify is looking to rebound after facing graded-stakes company in her last two starts. She was unplaced in the Grade 2 Edgewood Stakes at Churchill Downs and the Grade 2 Appalachian Stakes at Keeneland, though she scored an allowance victory on the Gulfstream Park turf in March.
To a Flame owns two wins from five career starts and has earned more than $210,000.
Motion’s Bless Her appears to be one of the main challengers. The daughter of Twirling Candy broke her maiden at Gulfstream in February and was beaten just a nose when second in a Keeneland allowance in April.
“She loves a distance of ground, so she will not have any problem going a mile and an eighth,” Motion said. “She ran super in her last race at Keeneland. She is very light but she is a big filly. We have had her at Delaware and we have been pointing her for this race. We have had this race on her calendar since the race at Keeneland.”
Bless Her has hit the board in three of five starts and gives Motion a chance to add to his Christiana victories with Joy (2013), Journey Home (2017), Peach of a Gal (2018), and Sparkle Blue (2022).
The Kent Stakes drew a field of nine, headed by Calumet Farm’s Turf Star. The son of Caravaggio enters off a breakthrough performance in the $100,000 James W. Murphy Stakes at Laurel Park on Preakness Day, where he rallied to score at one mile on turf.
That effort followed a pair of disappointing starts in the Kitten’s Joy Stakes and Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Stakes, but Motion believes the Laurel race was closer to the colt’s true ability.
“He has been doing well since his race at Laurel,” Motion said. “Since then, we have been waiting for this spot. We were kind of expecting him to run the kind of race he did at Laurel. We always thought he had that ability, but we got a little off track with him.”
Motion credited jockey Jorge Ruiz for helping unlock that performance.
“I credit Jorge for his turnaround by giving him a great ride,” Motion said. “He did not rush him in that race and he let him do his thing. The key was giving him a very patient ride, which I think really turned him around.”
Turf Star was stakes-placed twice as a juvenile, including a runner-up finish in the Grade 2 Bourbon Stakes, and competed in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. He has earned nearly $283,000 from seven starts.
Motion also sends out Kravitz, a son of Justify owned by Wertheimer et Frere. Though he has won only once in seven starts, Motion believes the colt’s recent form is better than it appears.
“He has been a little unlucky,” Motion said. “I think his race at Churchill was better than it shows on paper and in his race at Keeneland he got into a bit of trouble.”
Kravitz exits a fifth-place finish in the Audubon Stakes at Churchill Downs and has also posted a maiden win and a pair of runner-up efforts this season.
“He is also the kind of horse who likes distance,” Motion added. “He actually would appreciate a mile and a quarter or even farther, but a mile and an eighth at Delaware should suit him fine. We had other options for him and I really do not like to run these two against each other, but I think this race is the right spot for both.”
The Christiana is the sixth race and the Kent the eighth on an eight-race program.
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