By Ben Massam
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Ken Ramsey has always had a world of confidence in his 4-year-old colt Backyard Heaven (Tizway). Despite a series of setbacks that sidetracked his progression, the Chad Brown trainee's latent talent has fueled a continual hope that bigger and better things are to come. Ramsey believed that Backyard Heaven was primed to take the next step under the lights at Churchill Downs in the June 16 GI Stephen Foster H. after dominating his stakes debut in the May 4 GII Alysheba S., but it was not meant to be as the dark bay came up empty in the stretch and finished sixth.
With ample time to recover and steady training in the bank, Backyard Heaven's next opportunity on a grand stage comes Saturday in the GI Whitney S. at Saratoga. A win in the storied race would seem all the more fitting given the colt's name–which is Ramsey's nickname for his view of the Oklahoma training track from the backyard of his Saratoga Springs home.
“I'm hoping that the [Stephen Foster] was a fluke because of the heat and humidity–it was 91 degrees that night,” said Ramsey, who added that the race otherwise unfolded exactly as planned. “I was sitting there saying, 'How sweet it is, all I have to do is walk out there and lead him in, because he's going to fire like he always fires and win by four or five.' Instead, when he caught the whip and cracked him, he had absolutely nothing. He was as flat as a flitter.”
Ramsey said Backyard Heaven scoped clean and emerged from the race with no obvious physical ailments, leading him to believe that the muggy weather that night was the culprit. The case for drawing a line through the race was bolstered by a series of other poor performances by high-profile horses on the same card–namely champion World Approval (Northern Afleet), the highly regarded sophomore Ax Man (Misremembered) and Irish War Cry (Curlin), who failed to finish the Foster after suffering from his well-documented battle with a heat-related condition known as “the thumps.”
Ramsey has been observing Backyard Heaven's training at the Spa in recent weeks alongside Brown and said his faith in the horse has not wavered (click here to read more about Backyard Heaven in Steve Sherack's “Second Chances” feature from November 2017). While his workmate from early July, Good Magic (Curlin), was at Monmouth Park preparing for a victory in the GI Betfair.com Haskell Invitational last Sunday morning, Backyard Heaven completed his final prep work for the Whitney with a four-furlong breeze in :48.92 (45/129) at Saratoga.
Although the Ramseys' spot on the Oklahoma remains their “backyard heaven,” Ramsey explained that his stable will have fewer starters at the 2018 Spa meet than in years past.
“I've got two wins so far, but I didn't bring as many horses as I normally do,” Ramsey said. “I have a grandson up at Woodbine [Nolan Ramsey] who is an assistant to Mike Maker, and I ended up sending 26-27 horses up there. I have about the same amount here. I'm not going to have as many entries at Saratoga as I had last year, because I'm trying to help my grandson out. But he's done well…I think he'll end up being a good trainer if he gets a little more polish.”
Even if Ramsey is looking at the bigger picture and sacrificing wins in the short term at Saratoga, a win in the Whitney would justify the emphasis on quality over quantity. His last victory in the storied race came in 2004 with Roses in May.
“If I can win that one Saturday, I would forget about all the rest of it,” Ramsey said. “If the horse cooperates on Saturday, I think we have a big shot. As I said at the draw the other night, I'd be able to kiss Mary Lou [Whitney] twice. It's been a long time between kisses–it was 2004 when I got my last one.”
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