Test Score could give Motion first Arlington Million
One of two Grade 1 winners in the field
Frank Vespe
July 28, 2026
Test Score has already checked one of the biggest boxes in turf racing this season. Saturday at Colonial Downs, he’ll try to help trainer Graham Motion check off another.
The 2026 Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational winner enters the $1 million Arlington Million as one of just two Grade 1 winners in the field, joining defending champion Fort Washington. The Arlington Million is one of the few important turf races that has thus far eluded Motion, whose career includes nearly three dozen Grade 1 victories.
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Test Score has given every indication he belongs among the nation’s best older turf horses. The 4-year-old son of Lookin At Lucky, a homebred for Amerman Racing, won the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational in January and most recently was beaten just a half-length by Deterministic in the Grade 1 Manhattan after closing into a race that favored horses near the front throughout.
Test Score is 9-2 on the morning line. His lone blemish this season came in the May 2 Turf Classic at Churchill Downs, a race Motion still struggles to explain.
“The only sort of head scratcher was the race at Churchill, where he just didn’t show up, and I still to this day find that puzzling,” the trainer said on the July 25 episode of Off to the Races Radio.
Rather than dwell on that performance, Motion points to the consistency that has defined nearly every other start in Test Score’s career. The colt has finished first, second, or third in 12 of 15 lifetime outings while earning more than $2.2 million. The Pegasus was his second Grade 1 triumph and fourth graded stakes win overall.
Preparation for the Million has not been entirely smooth. Poor air quality at Fair Hill forced Motion to alter the colt’s training schedule, pushing his final serious work back by a day.
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“We got a little bit messed up last week with a breezing schedule because of the poor air quality,” Motion said. “So he’s on a Sunday schedule, but he’s in good shape, and he’s very used to being here at Fair Hill. He’ll ship down just the day before down to Virginia.”
If Test Score runs to his recent form, Motion could finally add the Arlington Million to a trophy case that already includes victories in nearly every major American turf event. Standing in the way is a field led by defending Million winner Fort Washington and Fort Washington’s stablemate, Integration, as well as morning line choice Burnham Square (5-2).
But Motion isn’t looking to trade.
“I wouldn’t trade places or horses with anyone,” Motion said. “My horse has been so consistent.”
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