Down the Shedrow with Wesley Ward

Wesley Ward does have an Eclipse Award to his merit, but it is not for his skills as a trainer. He was recognized as the top apprentice jockey in 1984, and though he was forced to give up that career in 1989, it is that experience that is one of his greatest assets as a conditioner. Known for his success with 2-year-olds, especially early on, the 47-year-old gets on all of his babies himself when they are first broke to saddle and passes them off to the appropriate exercise rider when he feels they are ready.

Ward has also made quite a name for himself in Europe. He became the first U.S.-based trainer to win at the prestigious Royal Ascot meet in 2009 when Striking Tiger captured the Windsor Castle S. and he scored again the very next day when Jealous Again won the G2 Queen Mary S. In 2011, he made European headlines again, this time in France when he became the first American conditioner to win at Longchamp courtesy of maiden winner Tiz Terrific.

The Washington native, who now splits his time between Kentucky and Florida, captured his first Breeders' Cup win in 2014 when Hootenanny (Quality Road), who also won that year's Windsor Castle, took the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. He did not have to wait long for his second as his very own Judy the Beauty (Ghostzapper) captured the GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint the very next day to clinch the Eclipse award for that division.

That champion is now retired and awaiting a date in the breeding shed with fellow Eclipse winner American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile). However, Ward still has a variety of talented runners gearing up for 2016, including the comebacking Hootenanny, the accomplished sophomore Acapulco (Scat Daddy), G1 Diamond Jubilee winner Undrafted (Purim) and, of course, his latest crop of juveniles, some of whom will hit the track as early as April.

HOOTENANNY (c, 4, Quality Road)

From the first crop of MGISW Quality Road, Hootenanny boasts quite an impressive international resume for a lightly raced horse. Winner of Royal Ascot's 2014 Windsor Castle, the Coolmore runner finished second next out when shipped to France for Deauville's G1 Darley Prix Morny and capped off his juvenile campaign with a victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita (video). A dominant 6 1/4-length winner of his sophomore bow in a Keeneland allowance last April, he was a disappointing 11th when last seen at Ascot in the G1 Commonwealth Cup last June. Hootenanny has been working well over the Turfway Park all-weather since late December, most recently breezing five furlongs in 1:01.40 Feb. 27.

“His shoulder seemed to be bugging him [after Ascot]. He is a really big horse in the front end, so we just turned him out and we gave him five or six months off. He seems to be doing really good.No plans yet for his first start back. He's training in Kentucky, so he will probably race at Keeneland.”

ACAPULCO (f, 3, Scat Daddy)

Ward took a big leap of faith last year when sending Acapulco to Royal Ascot off a third-place effort in her debut on the dirt at Churchill last May, but the filly proved him right with a sensational victory in the grassy G2 Queen Mary S. (video). A victory so impressive in fact, that Ward decided to do the unthinkable once again and sent the Coolmore representative to York to face her elders of both sexes in the G1 Coolmore Nunthorpe that August. Setting the early pace, the chestnut filly was tagged late by the 4-year-old filly Mecca's Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and finished a valiant second. Given the rest of the year off, Acapulco returned a winner in a six-panel allowance over the Turfway synthetic Feb. 19.

“I thought her race [at Turfway] was really good. It was a little bit tougher of a race than I would have expected. The filly that was second ran a big race. I had to run a nine on the Ragozin sheets to win the race, which you wouldn't expect at Turfway in February. My hats off to the filly that finished second. She made Acapulco run.”

“She came out of the race fantastic. It will probably be closer to 60 days from start to start when we get over to Keeneland and try to pick a nice race out for her. Her main goal is Ascot this year in whatever one of the three sprints that the Coolmore guys pick out. That's the main target, so we are going to pick another spot here shortly and hopefully have two runs more before she goes over there, one at Keeneland and one somewhere else.”

UNDRAFTED (g, 6, Purim)

Wes Welker and Sol Kumin's Undrafted, winner of the 2014 GIII Jaipur S. and third in that term's GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, achieved a career-high at Royal Ascot last year, posting a 14-1 upset in the G1 Diamond Jubilee last June (video). Returning to the U.S., the gelding finished second in the More Than Ready Mile S. at Kentucky Downs Sept. 5 and was fifth in the BC Turf Sprint at Keeneland when last seen Oct. 31. The chestnut just recently returned to the worktab at Turfway, covering five panels in 1:00.80 in his last work Feb. 27.

“He's breezing very, very well along with Hootenanny. He actually worked against Hootenanny the other day. I van them up from their base at Keeneland to Turfway to breeze once a week and he had a really nice breeze as well. He usually kind of falls in line with the Keeneland/Churchill stakes races and then after those two he heads over to Ascot as well [for the Diamond Jubilee].”

“I was out [Tuesday] morning with Wes Welker and he will be attending this year. He said last year was one of his biggest disappointments because Gatewood Bell, who is his stable manager and picked the horse out for him, is the one who accepted the trophy from the Queen of England. He said he would be in front of Gatewood this year if we would be so lucky as to be lucky again and win it.”

SHRINKING VIOLET (m, 6, Congaree)

The Ward-owned Shrinking Violet was the conditioner's only U.S. graded stakes winner in 2015, having captured Santa Antia's GII Monrovia S. at the beginning of that season. Closing out 2015 with a victory in Del Mar's Daisycutter H. last August and a non-factor ninth in the Kentucky Downs Ladies Sprint S. a month later, the chestnut finished a close second last out when attempting a title defense in the Monrovia Jan. 3.

“She's doing very well. I brought her back to Keeneland after her narrow defeat at Santa Anita [in the Monrovia]. She's had a couple of breezes now at Turfway and she is probably going to head back out to Santa Anita to run down the hill [in the GIII Las Ciengas Apr. 10].”

CHILTERN STREET (c, 4, Giant's Causeway)

Chiltern Street finished fourth in his first two outings just 12 days apart, debuting at Saratoga Sept. 4 and running at Kentucky Downs Sept. 16. An improved second at Churchill Nov. 5, the Michael Tabor colorbearer turned the corner next out when earning his diploma at Tampa Dec. 2 and made it two in a row when capturing a Feb. 25 allowance (video) at Fair Grounds, which was Ward's first ever win at that venue.

“I've been so high on that horse! He was compromised by traffic trouble in his first start, and, of course, he wants to go further than 5 1/2 [furlongs]. It was my fault that I ran him back in 12 days and had to van him all the way from Saratoga to Kentucky Downs and he got beat on the square. He sort of indicated what I really thought of him the last few starts. I think he is one of those guys that is going to keep getting better, and better and better. He will jump into the stakes ranks here shortly. I think he is really going to be something, I really have high hopes for that dude.”

GREEN MASK (g, 5, Mizzen Mast)

Sheikh Abdullah Saeed Almaddah's Green Mask, a stakes winner at Belmont in 2014, kicked off last season with a pair of runner-up efforts in turf sprint stakes in Florida and finished a respectable third behind Sole Power (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}) next out when shipped to Dubai for the G1 Al Quoz Sprint. Off for six months, the gelding returned with a fourth-place effort in the Kentucky Downs Turf Dash S. Sept. 14 and was third in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland Oct. 31. The dark bay was a disappointing eighth when last seen in the G1 Hong Kong Sprint Dec. 13 and is now back jogging.

“He had a really quick work about a week out [from the Hong Kong Sprint] over the main track [at Sha Tin], like a super quick :45 and change breeze. I really wasn't looking for something like that because he breezed the same the week before that. He came out of the work with a bad foot. We were a little bit iffy about if we were even going to run, but the foot came around really quick, so we went ahead and ran. As they went into the turn, he looked like he was sitting in a winning position, and Joel Rosario thought the same, but I think the last part when he had to lay his body down, that foot got to stinging him a little bit and compromised our chances. All in all, he ran a good race and he is a really good horse. I'm looking for him to rebound and have a big summer.”

“I'm just kind of giving him a little bit of a freshening. When you take those big, long journeys, it just kind of zaps them and they seem to need that long freshening, mentally and physically, to bounce back. I told the owner that he just didn't have that same vigor to him. He is just now starting to come back around and I'm going to give him a couple more weeks before I start really doing anything with him. He is a really nice horse. I just want to make sure when he gets back he is firing on all eight cylinders.”

SHEIKH OF SHEIKHS (c, 3, Discreetly Mine)

An impressive debut winner at Saratoga last August, Sheikh of Sheikhs disappointed when sixth behind Brody's Cause (Giant's Causeway) in Keeneland's GI Breeders' Futurity, but rebounded to win the Juvenile Dirt Sprint S. when cut back in trip Oct. 31. Third in the GIII Hutcheson S. at Gulfstream Jan. 2, the Sheikh Abdullah Saeed Almaddah runner was fourth behind undefeated champion Nyquist (Uncle Mo) in Santa Anita's GII San Vicente S. Feb. 15.

“Unfortunately, he bled [in the San Vicente]. In fact, he bled out the nose in the race. He is just going to need a little time to get everything internally cleared up, as far as his lungs and what have you. We are going to give him the time so I can get him back to what he can do. He is a really, really good horse. That being said, I take nothing away from the top two horses in the race [Nyquist and Exaggerator]. It would have took a gut wrencher for him to be right there on the line with them as it was a stakes record. I'm really hopeful that we can get him back on track and that he will be a really good, premier sprinter as well.”

BANREE (f, 3, Macho Uno)

One of Ward's trademark debut winners against the boys last April at Keeneland, Banree finished fifth next out against males in Belmont's Tremont S. and improved to second in Saratoga's GIII Schuylerville S. last July. Off the board in the GI Spinaway S. in September, the Mark Dodson colorbearer captured a Keeneland allowance Oct. 7 before finishing third in Aqueduct's GIII Tempted S. Nov. 4. Despite several strong works on the Turfway synthetic, the gray showed her conditioner the surface was not for her when sixth in the WEBN S. there Feb. 20 and will return to the dirt for her next start.

“We focused on dirt races with her last year and she had quite a good year. She broke her maiden convincingly and was second in the stake at Saratoga and won during the fall meet at Keeneland. We gave her a little freshening at Ben McElroy's farm and when we brought her back I kept her there in the cold weather up at Keeneland.”

“The night she ran, it was a beautiful night at Turfway and 60 degrees, so the track got really kind of deep as synthetic surfaces do. It had changed from what she was really looking good on in the mornings [when it was cold], so I think that's what kind of got her. She came out of the race perfect, sound, no bleeding or breathing issues at all. I really think she is going to come back to fire a big one when we get her back on the dirt. Her favorite track is Keeneland so we will more likely than not take a big leap forward and try the [GIII] Beaumont [S. Apr. 17].”

WAR ENVOY (c, 4, War Front)

Owned by Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Mrs. John Magnier and breeder Joseph Allen, War Envoy spent most of his career in Europe with Aidan O'Brien, winning an Ascot handicap there June 18 and returning just nine days later to finish fourth at the Curragh June 27. Returning four months later in America, the bay finished last of 11 behind a sensational Liam's Map (Unbridled's Song) when trying dirt for the first time in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile Oct. 30 and he was subsequently transferred to Ward. War Envoy finished second in his debut for this outfit in a Tampa optional claimer and is currently in Barbados preparing for the Barbados Gold Cup Saturday.

“He's done everything right. I've won a race down there in the sprint and I've raced in the Gold Cup before. He's training excellent and he shipped down perfect. My rider Mario Pino knows the horse very well. He's got some antics to him. He rode him [at Tampa] and he was beaten and he felt if he had known the horse as well as he does now, he wouldn't have gotten beat. Mario is going to get on the horse every day up until the race, so hopefully we will have some luck. I am going to head down with my kids Thursday night. My boss Mr. Ramsey is in the race and he is tough to beat. He's won a couple in a row, but we will give it our best go at my boss!”