Wesley Ward

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - In her days as a Thoroughbred horse trainer, Keri Brion has been associated mainly with steeplechase runners. And she has no problem with that. The jump game has been good to her. Since opening her own stable, the former assistant to the late Hall of Famer Jonathan Sheppard has trained an Eclipse Award Steeplechase horse in The Mean Queen (Ire) (Doyen {Ire}), who won it in 2021, her first year. But there is more to her training game, and she made people take notice. On Thursday,...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY--Finally, 'TDN Rising Star' Long Neck Paula (Uncle Mo) gets her chance to run at Saratoga Race Course. The 2-year-old filly, trained by Wesley Ward, is one of 11 entered to run in the 106th running of the $175,000 Listed Schuylerville Stakes on Thursday's opening day card at the Spa. Long Neck Paula was the 2-1 morning-line favorite in the June 6 Astoria S. at Saratoga but didn't get to run after the stewards scratched her. Ward had taken her off the grounds for cold water spa therapy,...

Wesley Ward admitted he was looking for an easy spot for  White Sands (Into Mischief) to make her first racetrack appearance, but when the half-sister to sprint champion Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) romped by 9 1/2 lengths in her debut at Belterra Park in May, the trainer immediately circled the Prairie Gold Juvenile Stakes on his calendar. The filly duly delivered again in that 5 1/2-furlong event, defeating the boys in a 13 3/4-length demolition at Prairie Meadows last Saturday. "We had a long time with her," Ward said of...

4th-Belmont The Big A, $90,000, Msw, 6-23, 2yo, 6fT, 1:08.85, fm, 1 1/4 lengths. PHAROAH'S DYNASTY (c, 2, American Pharoah--Funfair {SW}, by More Than Ready) went off as the 5-2 second choice for this debut and the colt wasted no time wrangling the lead away from a longshot up the backstretch. Looking awfully professional around the far turn, the 2-year-old gunned his engine down the lane and graduated at first asking by 1 1/4 lengths over West Beach (Omaha Beach). The last registered foal for his dam, the winner is...

The managing partner of Arnmore Thoroughbreds, co-owner of 'TDN Rising Star' Complexion (Complexity) with Carl and Yurie Pascarella, Megan Jones signed for a now juvenile class of three, and all have hit the board at first-asking, including the one who ultimately landed on the TDN's radar. "This year we have three fillies that we purchased as yearlings. The first, [New York-bred] Phoebeinwonderland, beat the boys first out. Second was Complexion. Third was Magical Bette who ended up in a boys' race because [her other option] overfilled, and I was really...

Ten stayers will line up in Thursday's G1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, with the 2022 title-holder Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) looking to regain his crown having missed out through injury 12 months ago. He will be Aidan O'Brien's sole runner, while John and Thady Gosden saddle a trio in Wathnan Racing's Gregory (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}), Godolphin's Trawlerman (Ire) (Golden Horn {GB}) and Normandie Stud's Sweet William (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). Willie Mullins has booked Colin Keane for the ride on the Riccis' Vauban (Fr) (Galiway {GB}), while...

Wednesday's Royal Ascot cards were finalised on Monday, with the feature G1 Prince of Wales's S. made up of 10 runners but not, as expected, White Birch (GB) (Ulysses {Ire}). The G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup winner's absence is one less obstacle for Ballydoyle's star colt of 2023, Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), with Cheveley Park Stud's Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Yeguada Centurion's Blue Rose Cen (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}) looking the chief threats to the Ballydoyle runner. Blue Rose Cen is joined by compatriots Horizon Dore (Fr) (Dabirsim {Fr}),...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY -- Trainer Wesley Ward said it was his fault that 'TDN Rising Star' Long Neck Paula (Uncle Mo), the 2-1 morning-line favorite in Thursday's Astoria S., was scratched by the stewards. Ward said he took Long Neck Paula to Burke Equine Therapy to go in a cold water spa on Wednesday. Unbeknownst to Ward, there is a rule stating that permission must be granted by the stewards before a horse can be taken off the grounds for such treatment. "I didn't know, it's my own fault," Ward...

8th-SA, $54K, Msw, 3-5yo, 6f, 7:30 p.m. In a race that also features the debut of Flightline's half-brother Eagles Flight (Curlin), breaking just to that runner's outside is VISCERAL (Violence) for the partnership of MyRacehorse and Edge Racing. Bought for $400,000 out of OBS March last year after working in :10, the grey or roan colt is the second foal out of a half to GSW San Pablo (Jump Start) and MGSP Slider (Prenup). Working out of trainer Mark Glatt's barn, Visceral has fired bullets in two of his last...

West Memorial became the first winner for freshman sire Caracaro (by Uncle Mo) with an upset win over the boys in the Kentucky Juvenile S. at Churchill Downs on Thursday. The John Hancock trainee was a close second on debut at Keeneland Apr. 7. Overlooked at 17-1 here, the bay watched as the Wesley Ward-trained 'TDN Rising Star' Shoot It True (Munnings), a runaway Keeneland debut winner Apr. 5, and Resolute Racing acquisition Mensa (Complexity), a $740,000 purchase earlier this week via the Fasig-Tipton Digital Sale platform, battled for command...

With a burst of energy that was present from the bell, Will Stroud's Long Neck Paula (f, 2, Uncle Mo--Take Charge Paula, by Take Charge Indy) broke her maiden on debut at Churchill Downs on Thursday and earned herself a 'TDN Rising Star' badge. Drawing into the body of the field off the also-eligible list, the 3-1 chance shot out to the front from post 11 and set the tone up the backstretch. Though she was briefly joined by favored Preciseness (Into Mischief), the $500,000 OBS March graduate shrugged off...

1st-CD, $120K, Msw, 3yo/up, f/m, 6 1/2f, 10:30 a.m. ET. The Kentucky Oaks curtain lifts with a debuting full-sister to champion 2-year-old colt and current sire Good Magic (by Curlin). PENNY ROYAL is a Stonestreet homebred trained by Steve Asmussen. Dam MSW Glinda the Good (Hard Spun), who also carried the Stonestreet banner, is a half-sister to GSW Take the Ribbon (Chester House) and SW Flash Forward (Curlin). TJCIS PPS 2nd-CD, $100K, OCN1X, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 11:00 a.m. ET. Owned by Woodford, West Point and Chris Larsen, the Shug...