Four days removed from the victory of Four Wheel Drive (American Pharoah) in the GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Santa Anita, trainer Wesley Ward said he is plotting a path to Royal Ascot 2020 for the Breeze Easy silkbearer.
“I hope we'll take him to Royal Ascot–that would be the initial plan, anyway,” said Ward of the Glenvale Stud-bred, who went gate to wire in the five-furlong contest. “He shipped home great and was back in his stable in Keeneland on Saturday morning. He'll have a month and a half off and then we'll get him ready for the spring. We'll find a prep race for him at home and hopefully that will tell us whether we should run over six furlongs in the [G1] Commonwealth Cup or stick at five for the [G1] King's Stand. Lady Aurelia was obviously better over five than six, so we'll see about this guy.”
Four Wheel drive is unbeaten in three runs, which have all taken place since Sept. 1.
“His three runs so far have kind of been bunched together, so I hope that with a bit more time between his races, he'll be an even better horse next year,” Ward added.
Ward is also looking at a return trip to Berkshire with Kimari (Munnings). The David Mowat-owned filly was second by a head in this year's G2 Queen Mary S. and bounced back to win a pair of stakes in the U.S. before finishing fourth behind Four Wheel Drive last Friday.
“I said going into the race whichever horse had the better trip would probably come out on top and that's the way it worked out on the day,” Ward said. “Four Wheel Drive got a great run in front, whereas Kimari got shuffled back and checked and shuffled back and checked again. She must have made up 10 lengths in the straight and was in front after the wire, but not where it mattered.
“She has proved she likes the track [at Ascot] and softer ground wouldn't be a bother to her, given she performed so well on it this year. Hopefully she can go back, probably for the Commonwealth Cup against the boys.”
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
