Trainer Wesley Ward said Lael Stables' Arrest Me Red will make his next start in the $150,000 Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship at six furlongs for 3-year-olds and up on Nov. 27 at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Arrest Me Red was scratched out of the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint on Nov. 6 at Del Mar, which was won by the Ward-trained Golden Pal. Arrest Me Red breezed a half-mile in :48 flat Wednesday over the Keeneland main track.
“He had a little foot abscess issue we were dealing with out in California, so we erred on the side of caution and scratched him,” Ward said. “We brought him back and he's had a great work here at Keenland, so he should be ready to go.”
The Pioneerof the Nile sophomore joined Ward's stable for his 3-year-old campaign, winning the Mahony in August at 5 1/2-furlongs over firm footing at Saratoga Race Course. The talented bay followed with a gate-to-wire score in the six-furlong Grade 3 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational over firm going on October 2 at Belmont Park.
Ward said Arrest Me Red had initially been under consideration for the Grade 2 Woodford at Keeneland before setting course for Belmont.
“He came back [from the Mahony] and had some nice works and we were going to go in the Woodford with him, but there was no sense in going against my other horse, Golden Pal, so we looked for another option and he ran and won nice,” Ward said.
Arrest Me Red made four starts in a juvenile campaign for his former conditioner Arnaud Delacour, posting a first-out maiden win at Laurel Park in August 2020 and a two-length score in the six-furlong Atlantic Beach last November over the Big A turf.
CJ Thoroughbreds' Miss Alacrity, a chestnut daughter of Munnings, will return to the main track in Sunday's $100,000 Key Cents, a six-furlong sprint for juvenile fillies at Aqueduct.
Out of the multiple graded-stakes winning Menifee mare Just Jenda, Miss Alacrity launched her career with a 10-length maiden win sprinting five furlongs over Big Sandy in May. She followed with an impressive score in the Colleen, a five-furlong turf test in August at Monmouth Park.
Last out, Miss Alacrity stumbled at the start of the Speakeasy, a five-furlong turf test on Oct. 1 at Santa Anita, and settled for fourth.
“I think she was soundly beaten. We went out there with her winning that race at Monmouth and we wanted to see where she was at. There were no excuses, she just got beat,” Ward said. “It was a credible race. She ran well but she just got beat by better horses on the day.”
Miss Alacrity will remove blinkers while retaining the services of Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez from the inside post in a loaded field that includes the well-regarded Classy Edition for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher and the speedy Makin My Move for conditioner John Kimmel.
“This time of year, I generally take the blinkers off of everything with 2-year-olds. It keeps them focused at the beginning of the year and now that they're older and more seasoned, I like to take the blinkers off to go a little further,” Ward said. “She should be more aware of her surroundings and a little more relaxed in the race with the blinkers off.”
Lyrical Poet, a 4-year-old Kitten's Joy gelding owned, bred and trained by Ward, posted a claiming score traveling 5 1/2-furlongs over the Saratoga turf in July.
He is out of the speedy Bring the Heat mare One Hot Wish, who won a pair of sprints for Ward led by an 8 ½-length allowance romp at Gulfstream Park in 2008 that garnered a 91 Beyer.
Lyrical Poet was last seen finishing second in September in a Kentucky Downs turf allowance sprint won by Rustler, who exited that effort to win the Carle Place in October at Belmont.
Lyrical Poet breezed five-furlongs in 1:00.80 on Nov. 16 over the Keeneland main track in preparation for Race 2 on Saturday at the Big A, a six-furlong starter allowance on the turf for 3-year-olds and up.
“He's training good. I've taken my time with him. Kitten's Joys take a little time to get going and he was a late foal,” Ward said. “I own him so I can afford the time I think they need and he's rewarding that patience now. His dam was very fast.”
Listed at 3-1 on the morning line, Lyrical Poet will exit post 7 under Irad Ortiz, Jr.
The post Scratched From Breeders’ Cup With Foot Abscess, Arrest Me Red Returns In Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
