Bloodstock Agent Michael Motion Dies at 95

The Thoroughbred industry mourns the loss of renowned international bloodstock agent Michael G. Motion, who died Aug. 14 at 95. Michael and his wife, Josephine, were longtime residents of Middleburg, Va., where it was announced he passed peacefully at home with his family by his side. Although he grew up involved in pony club and foxhunting in England, Michael took the circuitous route to the career that eventually earned him the worldwide respect of his peers. Initially, his interests were in cattle and farming. He attended the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester, England, before migrating to Canada after his grandfather's death prompted the sale of the family farm. In Canada, he took a job at The Royal Winter Fair, working the Sale of Stars for pedigreed cattle. The position led him to a two-year stint in South America running a receiving center for imported cattle. Back in England in 1956, Michael reconnected with a childhood friend, Josephine Wells, and the pair became engaged. Already very accomplished in Thoroughbred racing, Jo was the first female to groom a winner of the Grand National at Aintree—Nickel Coin in 1951. She subsequently became one of the first women in America to obtain a trainer's license. While acquiring her green card, she worked as an assistant trainer to Mom and Pop Adams in Southern Pines, N.C. The couple married in October 1956 before heading to America. Michael's knowledge of South America and command of the Spanish language landed him a job with an import-export company. Bored with that desk job, he decided to pursue other employment. Fasig-Tipton Roots In New York City in 1957, he asked a woman in a small bookshop if she knew where he might find an auctioneering house. She informed him there was one just around the corner at 3 E. 48th Street. There, he found an office staff of five employees. During their interview, the gentleman in charge—also an Englishman—mentioned that his father had been a parson in the area where Michael worked on the Duke of Westminster's estate near Chester. He asked if Michael was familiar with the Tattersalls auction firm in England, explaining that his outfit could be considered the Tattersalls of America. Michael was hired for a bookkeeping position, becoming the company's sixth employee. As he left, his new employer said, "By the way, my name is Humphrey Finney." The little auction firm was called Fasig-Tipton. Michael left Fasig-Tipton after a year, but that brief tenure afforded him valuable exposure to the finances of the Thoroughbred breeding business. Still a young man of 27, he secured a job at Mrs. John Burgwin's Barberry Farm near Bucks County, Pa. It was Mrs. Burgwin's keen interest in horses that pushed Michael to create a proposal rebranding Barberry Farm as a viable Thoroughbred entity. He made his first purchase—two weanling fillies—at the 1958 Keeneland fall sale. In what was perhaps one of the first pinhooking ventures, he sold both fillies as yearlings at Saratoga in 1959. He returned to Keeneland a few months later and purchased four in-foal mares. Barberry Farm was formally in the Thoroughbred breeding business. Five years later, they were among Saratoga's top three consignors by average. Back to England In 1962, Michael, Jo, and their first two children—American-born daughters Claire and Philippa ("Pippa")—returned to England. The Thoroughbred bloodstock industry was not yet international, and the reputation he developed in North America opened no doors in England. But that changed when those American clients came calling. His understanding of the American buyers and market served him perfectly. Michael and Jo moved to Herringswell near Newmarket in 1964, developing their own operation as Herringswell Manor Stud. Those same American clients sent horses to them, contributing to its prominence as a boarding facility in England for 15 years. The halcyon days of the 1970s expanded his business and solidified his status as a groundbreaker; he was one of the first bloodstock agents with clients in both the United Kingdom and United States. Michael's roster included Nelson Bunker Hunt's Blue Grass Farm; Taylor Hardin's Newstead Farm; William Hackman's Orange Hill Farm, and Thomas Mellon Evans' Buckland Farm. In Europe, Daniel Wildenstein's Allez France Stable, Robert Sangster, and Jean Ternynck. By the late 1970s, Michael extended his base to include Japanese and Australian interests. He became Tattersalls' North American representative in 1976. A New Home in Virginia In early 1980, the Motion family, which now included sons Graham and Andrew, returned to America and, after stints in Millbrook, N.Y. and Lexington, settled in the Middleburg area in 1986. Michael had maintained an office in Middleburg through the hay days of the 1970s, and Jo had been based in the area for parts of the year while working for the Adams. Both were enamored with the region, and the move gave them the chance to be close to daughter Claire and her three children, as well as Andrew and his two daughters. Michael's great friend Bill Oppenheim, co-founder of the newsletter Racing Update, shared this remembrance: "Michael Motion was a transatlantic pioneer as a farm manager and bloodstock agent who, early on, was active on both sides of The Pond. Among his smaller accomplishments was offering me, a young journalist, a no-obligation opportunity to attend the Tattersalls Yearling Sale in Newmarket in 1980 when he was the Tattersalls representative in America. It was truly a life-changing experience for me, and we remained friends and occasional colleagues for decades until his retirement. I regard him as one of my most influential mentors. He was a great man." Throughout his life, Michael derived great joy from his relationships with his family. Wife Jo owned and operated the immensely popular Middleburg Tack Exchange until her retirement at age 90 in 2021. Eldest daughter Claire is a highly respected educator in Middleburg, while Pippa is equally respected in the gourmet food and catering business in Washington, D.C. Sons Graham and Andrew followed their father in the racing industry. Graham's Herringswell Stables is based at Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland. Among his training wins are the 2011 Kentucky Derby (G1) and 2013 Dubai World Cup (G1) with Animal Kingdom as well as Breeders' Cup victories with Better Talk Now, Shared Account, Main Sequence, and Sharing. Andrew Motion's career path perhaps most closely parallels that of his father. He owns Old Chapel Farm in Upperville, Va., developing young horses for sales and providing bloodstock consulting services. Customarily, Michael preferred to remain private and instead allow the spotlight to shine on his children and grandchildren. … in one particular case, his oldest son Graham. Quoted in an Associated Press report for CBS News June 9, 2011, before Animal Kingdom's run in the Belmont Stakes (G1), Michael said: "His mother and I are extraordinarily proud of him, and through it all, he's been determined to spend as much time as possible with his family. What he's accomplished is absolutely amazing." Every member of Michael Motion's family would say the same of him. An exemplary life led with grace, humility, and integrity was the blueprint for their lives and his legacy.