Motorious © Benoit Photo

GEOVANNI FRANCO (Motorious, winner) -- “I got lucky enough to where Phil would let me work him a few times in the morning so I got pretty familiar with the horse. Being given the opportunity for me was a blessing and of him being open for the race. To get to ride him, it gave me a lot of confidence. And you know what, I didn’t know how much he can run in the afternoon, but he can sure run. Phil told me he needed a clear break out of the gate, and he broke like a champion. From then on it was just a matter of time whenever I was going to ask him to go and he sure did.”

PHIL D’AMATO (Motorious, winner) – “I’m proud of all my horses. They all fired but this horse today was a cut above. We’ll gladly take the ticket to the Breeders’ Cup. I thought maybe he (Franco) was waiting a little too long but I think he knew what he had under him and when he asked him he exploded. We got a lot of pace to run at and Geovanni just found his stride and once he pressed the button, he was gone.”

FRACTIONS:  :21.74  :44.70  :56.07

The stakes win was second of the meet for rider Franco and the fourth for trainer D’Amato.

This was the second victory in the Green Flash (Lieutenant Dan, 2021) for rider Franco. He now has seven stakes wins at Del Mar.

This was the first victory in the Green Flash for trainer D’Amato. He now has 48 stakes victories at Del Mar.

The winning owner is Anthony Fanticola.