Ward 'n Jerry, an old war horse that has been with trainer Mike Puype so long he's considered part of the family, seeks his second victory in Saturday's “The Tin Man Turf Starter Distance Series” at Santa Anita Park.
Ward 'n Jerry won the second leg of the challenging marathon on Feb. 20, coming from well off the pace as usual to take the mile and a quarter turf event by a head as the 4-5 favorite under Flavien Prat who is back aboard Saturday.
The “Tin Man” series provides distance-progressive opportunity for older horses that have started for a claiming price of $40,000 or less dating back to 2019 to run in four races that began at a mile and one eighth on Jan. 18 and will conclude at a mile and three-quarters on April 24.
In addition to the winner's share from this Saturday's Tin Man, the winner will get a free berth into either the Grade 2, $200,000 Charles Whittingham Stakes at 1 ¼ miles on turf May 29, or the Grade 3, $100,000 San Juan Capistrano at 1 ¾ miles on turf June 19.
The series is named in honor of Ralph and Aury Todd's homebred son of Affirmed, The Tin Man, who was foaled in 1998 and raced through age nine in 2007. Trained by Richard Mandella, The Tin Man was a multiple graded stakes winner and a two-time Grade 1 winner at age nine, after which he was retired with earnings of more than $3.6 million.
“Our hope is this distance series serves as a throwback to some of the legendary horses that have competed at Santa Anita and the races provide good betting opportunities,” said Santa Anita's Director of Racing and Racing Secretary Chris Merz.
“This race came up a lot tougher than the last one,” said Puype, who has had California-bred Ward 'n Jerry going on six years now for owners/breeders Mr. and Mrs. Larry Williams, longtime successful supporters of racing in The Golden State.
“This is a very solid race for the purse level, no doubt ($47,000, plus up to $5,640 to Cal-bred winners),” Puype said. “You've got Oscar Dominquez and Red King (each a Grade 2 stakes winner) running for $47,000. Tartini's not bad, either, so it's no easy race by any stretch.
“But we've surely got a good chance. He's got a great rider (Flavien Prat, who pilots the 8-year-old Lucky Pulpit gelding for the eighth time, winning twice); we're ready to go.”
Ward 'n Jerry has a 7-2-4 record from 27 starts with earnings of $434,419.
“I've had Ward 'n Jerry since his 2-year-old season (back in 2015),” Puype said. “He's very nice to have around and it's nice to have a horse for that many years. He's been here longer than any of them. He's kind of like the chairman of the board at the barn.”
Leg three of The Tin Man series, which goes as race five: Lure Him In, Edwin Maldonado, 5-1; Red King, Umberto Rispoli, 5-2; Ward 'n Jerry, Flavien Prat, 3-1; New Year, Tyler Baze, 50-1; Oscar Dominguez, Mario Gutierrez, 4-1; The Stiff, Alexis Centeno, 12-1; Tartini, Juan Hernandez, 4-1; and Irish Heatwave, Abel Cedillo, 8-1.
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