OZONE PARK, N.Y. — Trainer Graham Motion thought highly enough of Memorialize after her first two starts to consider her a potential runner for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf two weeks ago in California. When Memorialize ran a disappointing fifth in the Grade 2 Miss Grillo Stakes at Aqueduct on Oct. 4, Motion had to come up with a new plan. Friday, back at Aqueduct, Memorialize helped erase that disappointing Miss Grillo performance from Motion’s mind by running down the loose-on-the-lead longshot Awesome Czech to win the $120,000 Tepin Stakes by a neck. It was 1 3/4 lengths back to Gold Lightning in third. Artemis Girl, Being Betty, and the heavily-bet first-time starter Voter Registration (5/2 2nd choice) completed the order of finish in a six-horse field. Living Magic (temperature) and Scorpia (an allowance race Friday at Laurel) were expected scratches. Brocknardini scratched Friday morning for being slightly off during her training and trainer George Weaver said he was not comfortable running her in the race. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Memorialize had a wide trip in the Miss Grillo when she finished a well-beaten fifth behind Hard to Justify, who would go on to win the Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita. Friday, jockey Manny Franco took advantage of an inside draw to save ground on Memorialize early in the race while Awesome Czech, under Kendrick Carmouche, set the pace, chased by Gold Lightning. Midway down the backstretch, Franco moved Memorialize to the outside to follow Gold Lightning, ridden by Javier Castellano. Franco asked Memorialize for run around the far turn, but the filly was slow to respond. It wasn’t until just above the eighth pole that Memorialize kicked in and reeled in Awesome Czech in the final strides. “At the three-sixteenths pole I said, “Come on, filly.” Franco said. “I felt that I had the horse to go by them, but she still didn’t put it together. From the eighth pole to the sixteenth pole, she leveled off and gave me what she had.” Memorialize, a 2-year-old daughter of Karakontie owned by Gainesway Stable, covered the mile over firm ground in 1:36.57 and returned $4.40 as the favorite. After a troubled-trip second in her debut at Colonial Downs, Memorialize won a maiden race at Saratoga by three lengths before her disappointing run in the Miss Grillo. “I really thought she was a Breeders’ Cup horse,” Motion said. “Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise, maybe going the conservative route was the right way to go in the end.” Motion said Memorialize would winter in South Florida. He said he wouldn’t be in a hurry to run her back but mentioned the Grade 3, $200,000 Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs on March 9 as a potential early-season target for her in 2024. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.