Roja Leads Motion Exacta in Intercontinental

Roja scored a gate-to-wire victory in the $250,000 Intercontinental Stakes (G2T) June 4 at Saratoga Race Course. Under jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., Roja broke like a shot and set the early tempo, posting fractions of :21.35, :43.13 and :54.46. The Graham Motion trainee continued to show the way down the backstretch and hit the stretch with 2 1/2 lengths on her competition. She found more in the stretch and held clear of her rivals, winning by 1 1/4 lengths. Motion's second entry, Italian Soiree, finished second, a nose in front of the post-time favorite Shoot It True, who wound up third. The 4-year-old daughter of Karakontie (JPN) blazed the 5 1/2 furlongs on the firm turf in a final time of 1:00.44 and paid $13.44 to win. "I'm tickled with both of them. They've really both done very well," Motion said. "Irad just loves this filly. He was so high on her after she won at Churchill. She's so quick. Irad says she's like a Quarter Horse she's so quick. I'll tell you, I had quite a bit of confidence in this filly. I felt they probably wouldn't get to her. I was feeling pretty good when they turned for home." Saffie Joseph Jr.'s In Our Time, who went off at 5-2, had to settle for fifth after stumbling at the start, while Rob Falcone Jr.'s Gratefully, who was previously 5-for-5, also had a stumble at the start and checked in last. Owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Madaket Stables, Roja made it two in a row after winning an allowance optional claiming race April 29 at Churchill Downs. Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners purchased Roja at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton's The July Sale for $70,000 out of the Sheltowee Sales consignment. "She is an exceptionally fast filly," Aron Wellman of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners said. "We knew with the outside draw, we were trying to break from the gate and get over on the rest of the field if she was fast enough to do it, which she certainly was. I wasn't worried about her time, her mannerism, her body language, she was twitching her ears, so I knew she was comfortable. I knew she was enjoying herself, and Irad was riding her so confidently.
This was a big step up in class for her today, and she answered the call." Ortiz guided her to her first graded stakes victory in her first attempt. "She broke like a shot," Ortiz said. "She did that last time, too. She broke sharp again. I was expecting to let her break and then see if anyone goes ahead of her, but nobody did because she broke like a shot out of there. After that, I just tried to get her to relax, to have something at the end. She was still going quick. She still quickened so that was nice."