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No Respect, Plenty of Wins
Better Talk Now, center, has won four Grade I stakes races, including the Breeders' Cup Turf in 2004, above.
(By Matthew Stockman -- Getty Images)
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He has another runner Saturday, the 6-year-old mare Film Maker, who is just as good as her stable mate. She finished second in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf the year Better Talk Now won the Turf and then third last year in the same race.
Film Maker, like Better Talk Now, is a closer who needs a strong pace to set up her finishing kick. Her past 21 starts have all come in stakes races, and she finished second this year in two of the most prestigious turf races for fillies and mares in the country.
But the story's the same: Her morning-line odds of 12-1 reflect her likely lack of respect on Breeders' Cup day.
But the odds ultimately aren't as important as the results for the owners.
"Graham is a little more of a low-profile trainer than a lot of the others," said Donald Adams, the owner of Film Maker and chairman and chief executive of First American Bank. "But you won't find a better trainer or a person. He's a wonderful horseman, but he's a better family man."
Unlike many top trainers in racing these days, Motion doesn't want to set up divisions of his stable at racetracks around the country. He tries to compete at the top of the game while living a semblance of a normal life with his wife, Anita, and two children. Fair Hill is a mile from their home.
"I think that his being at Fair Hill, in the past, that's been less accepted -- training at a training center," Johnson said. "But with Barbaro [who trained at Fair Hill] last year, I think that's turning around and is going to help him."
With his two best horses getting on in years, Motion has kept their season's work minimal in hopes of having them fresh and ready for the Breeders' Cup. After seven races in 2005, Film Maker had just three this year. Better Talk Now went from seven starts to four.
The two have breezed together often in preparation for the big day, galloping in the mornings as a team. Motion is aware neither is considered a top threat in their respective races, but to him they couldn't be any better.
"I've been so lucky to have these two horses," he said. "When you start training, you don't expect to win the Breeders' Cup. When you're 60 or 70 you hope to win one of these big races. You don't want to take it for granted that you're running in the big races. It's not lost on me how lucky I am."
