
|
|
Ward to have three juveniles at Royal Ascot Wesley Ward exploded onto the Royal Ascot scene with the 2009 victories of Jealous Again in the Queen Mary Stakes and Strike the Tiger in the Windsor Castle Stakes, and the Keeneland-based conditioner will be back in Berkshire for more next week. Ward, who also saddled Cannonball to run second in the 2009 Golden Jubilee, was fourth with Gentlemans Code in the 2011 Windsor Castle, but sidestepped last year's meet due to unsuitable track conditions. His team of three is headed by No Nay Never, an April 26 Keeneland maiden winner who is pointing at Thursday's Norfolk Stakes over five furlongs, but will target Tuesday's Coventry Stakes, over an extra panel, if track conditions dictate. Sweet Emma Rose is slated for Wednesday's five-furlong Queen Mary having bagged an April 5 Keeneland maiden before running fourth, after showing early dash, in the May 18 Rollicking Stakes at Pimlico. Ward's own Ogermeister, who scored by six lengths going five panels at Belmont in his only start May 16, completes the trio and is bound for the five-furlong Windsor Castle on Tuesday's opening card. All three worked on Keeneland's turf strip Sunday and will ship to Britain Wednesday. As usual, Joel Rosario will ride. "No Nay Never is speedy and he's talented, and I would love to go in the Norfolk," Ward told Racing Post. "He is so exciting, he moves like a cat and he's a sweetheart to ride. I'm very excited about him. "Sweet Emma Rose is a small filly, (but) very, very fast. I sent her up to Pimlico for a stakes race, but with Ascot in mind I hadn't trained her hard. I didn't want to squeeze the lemon and thought I could get away with it. She was gasping afterwards, but she's come back nicely and did an outstanding breeze the other day. "Ogermeister is another talented horse and although he's bred for dirt, he's shown a particular affinity for grass. He won the only maiden race of the season so far for two-year-olds in New York. "There was a little moisture (at Keeneland Sunday), a little give in the ground. I'm relieved they all seemed to handle it because it might have been dry for 30 days at Ascot. I'm very hopeful. I'm bringing three guns with No Nay Never the number one." Snow Fairy, who was pointing at Wednesday's Prince of Wales's Stakes after pleasing connections in a workout at Sandown last week, will miss that intended engagement after suffering a training setback. "Unfortunately Snow Fairy has suffered a minor setback, which means she will be on the easy list for a couple of weeks and will sadly miss Royal Ascot," read a statement on edunlop.com. The six-time Group 1 winner has been on the shelf since annexing the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown last September. Frankie Dettori, who recently returned from a six-month drugs ban, has been booked to ride Diamond Jubilee Stakes contender Havelock. Trainer Darrin Miller ships the homebred six-year-old into Britain just two days before the Saturday feature, and he will line up off a win in the April 13 Shakertown Stakes at Keeneland and a fifth in the May 4 Twin Spires Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs. "He looks a solid horse and won a decent sprint at Keeneland," Dettori's agent, Ray Cochrane, told Britain's Daily Express. "Frankie's only been back a fortnight and has a few rides, but I'm not releasing them at the minute. All the good rides have been taken and I'm looking for spare rides for him. Unfortunately, there are not the good spare rides about, but he's taking it well. He's in great form and just glad to be back riding." Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com
![]() Send this article to a friend
|
|