Wesley Ward | Horse Racing Free Tips

Ward Outlines Team Plans

Stonestreet Stables' Love Reigns (Ire) (U S Navy Flag) breezed a half-mile in :48.66 seconds Friday over the Oklahoma training turf in preparation for the 5 1/2-furlong Bolton Landing S. Aug. 21 at Saratoga. Trained by Wesley Ward graduated by 9 3/4-lengths in her April debut sprinting 5 1/2-furlongs over the Keeneland turf ahead of a close fourth last out in the G2 Queen Mary S. June 15 at Royal Ascot. Love Reigns lost some time after the Queen Mary due to illness but has now breezed four times over the Oklahoma training turf.

“She's doing great,” Ward said. “She's had no hiccups since Ascot and we're looking forward to getting her back. She's been up at Saratoga and had several breezes on the grass, including today, and she's ready to go.”

Stablemate No Kay Never (No Nay Never), also owned by Barbara Banke's Stonestreet Stables, is nominated to both the Bolton Landing and the Aug. 19 Skidmore S., a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint against the boys. No Kay Never was an impressive maiden winner at Horseshoe Indianapolis May 30, but Ward said he may try to separate the fillies.

“We'll look at both races. She'll breeze Sunday on the grass,” Ward said. “Barbara owns them both. We may go against the boys. We'll have a little further discussion.”

Lael Stables' MGSW Arrest Me Red (Pioneerof the Nile) and Hat Creek Racing's Illegal Smile (Ire) (Camacho {GB}) also worked five-eighths in 1:00.94 Friday over the Oklahoma training turf. Arrest Me Red is targeting the GII Turf Sprint Sept. 10 at Kentucky Downs, while Illegal Smile is pointed to the Aug. 20 Smart N Fancy S. at Saratoga. Arrest Me Red, winner of last year's GIII Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational and GII Turf Sprint in May, was a close second last out in the GI Jaipur S. at Belmont June 11.

“He got a beautiful trip following us around there and then it kind of parted where he got a ground saving trip and got out. He was the best horse on the day,” Ward said.

Ward indicated Andrew Farm and For the People Racing's No Nay Hudson (No Nay Never) will make his turf debut in the Skidmore. The $190,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase graduated on debut in April in a 4 1/2-furlong maiden special weight at Keeneland prior to a fourth-place effort in Belmont's Tremont S. in June.

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Lea’s Poppy Flower Blossoms Late In Saratoga’s Galway S.

Poppy Flower took three tries to break her maiden at Belmont last Spring before making the jump into stakes company, posting on-the-board efforts in Saratoga's Bolton Landing S. behind future GISW Chi Town Lady (Verrazano) and the Ainsworth S. in the fall before ending her year with a fifth in the GIII Futurity S. for Wesley Ward. After a seven-month layoff, Poppy Flower returned for new trainer Bill Mott to capture the Stormy Blues S. at Laurel June 19 and check in just a half-length short behind Empress Tigress in Saratoga's Coronation Cup S. when last seen July 15.

Given a 4-1 chance Thursday, Poppy Flower took back off the early pace, settling close to the back of the field to race in eighth through an opening quarter set by Delmona (Ire) in :22.25. Shifted off the rail into the far turn, she angled four wide as the field straightened for the money and came with a rally down the center of the course to steal the lead from Empress Tigress inside the final sixteenth and go on to win by a length.

“I could have waited longer to see if something opened up inside, but I felt like there was a blanket of horses and I didn't want to be a hero,” said winning jockey Jose Ortiz. “I knew I had a lot of horse underneath of me and she always finishes well, so I wanted to have a clean run home. I didn't want to have any excuses. She came home flying.”

Trainer Bill Mott added, “I gave him [Jose Ortiz] no instructions. He rode her last time and rode her well. We thought maybe we'd be a little bit closer to the pace today, and she broke well and she was up there for a few strides but she just wanted to settle and he let her do what she wanted to do.”

Poppy Flower has an unraced 2-year-old half-brother by Noble Mission (GB) and a yearling half-sister named Got Sunny (Get Stormy). Her dam dropped a filly by Air Force Blue in 2022 and was bred back to Cairo Prince in 2023. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

GALWAY S., $150,000, Saratoga, 8-11, 3yo, f, 5 1/2fT, 1:02.09, fm.
1–POPPY FLOWER, 122, f, 3, by Lea
                1st Dam: Nisharora (Ire) (SP-Ity, SP-USA, $106,173), by Excellent Art (GB)
                2nd Dam: Art Fair (GB), by Alzao
                3rd Dam: Lypharita (Fr), by Lightning (Fr)
($9,500 RNA Ylg '20 KEEJAN). O-Arnmore Thoroughbreds, LLC;
B-Brenda Harding & Megan Jones (KY); T-William I. Mott;
J-Jose L. Ortiz. $82,500. Lifetime Record: 10-3-4-1, $340,520.
2–Empress Tigress, 122, f, 3, Classic Empire–Tigress Tale, by
Tale of the Cat. ($37,000 RNA Ylg '20 KEESEP; $410,000 2yo '21
OBSAPR). O-Augustin Stable; B-Springhouse Farm (KY);
T-Jonathan Thomas. $30,000.
3–Delmona (Ire), 118, f, 3, Dandy Man (Ire)–Imelda Mayhem
(GB), by Byron (GB). (£44,000 Ylg '20 TATIRY; 170,000gns 2yo
'21 TATAHI). O-Red Baron's Barn & Rancho Temescal;
B-Ballyhane Stud (IRE); T-James Bentley Begg. $18,000.
Margins: 1, HF, 1. Odds: 4.20, 1.45, 18.90.
Also Ran: Makin My Move, Have A Good Day (Ire), Breeze Easy (GB), Half Is Enough, Derrynane, Artos (Ire). Scratched: Benbang, Freedom Speaks, Mystic Eyes.

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Golden Pal Exits Troy in Good Order

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – Before the conversation began rolling, trainer Wesley Ward brought his visitors to Golden Pal (Uncle Mo)'s stall Saturday morning and pointed to the 4-year-old, who was sprawled on his side on the wood chips-covered floor.
Ward chuckled.

“Every day at this time he takes a nap,” Ward said.

Some 10 hours after the two-time Breeders' Cup winner won the GIII Troy S. at Saratoga Race Course, his first start after a rare clunker in the G1 King's Stand S. at Royal Ascot in June, Golden Pal looked like a contented dog resting in front of a fireplace. A few minutes later, he was on his feet checking out what was going on in the shedrow.

“Mentally, he's really a highly intelligent horse,” Ward said. “People think you are crazy, that it's just like, 'a horse is a horse.' You see that he's up in the front of the stall. That wasn't the case at Ascot. He was in the back of the stall and when he flew home and was in his own stall in his own home he was in the back of the stall kind of sulking. It took a little while for him to come out.”

Golden Pal didn't need any cheering up after running his record at Saratoga to three-for-three, all in stakes.

“He knows he won,” Ward said.

The 5 1/2-furlong Troy was the first of Golden Pal's seven career victories in 11 starts that he was not leading at every call. Golden Pal did not leave the gate as sharply as he normally does, but the race scenario played out exactly as Ward had hoped. Under Irad Ortiz, Jr. Golden Pal stalked and pounced, edging pacesetter True Valour (Ire) (Kodiac (GB)) by a head.

Ward has been preparing for the Breeders' Cup during training, having his veteran exercise rider Julio Garcia work him behind horses in breezes. Prior to the Troy, Ward took another step.

“I had a conversation with Irad's agent, Steve Rushing,” Ward said. “I said, 'A lot of jockeys get on my horses, and they just go, because they see me, think speed and they go.' And Irad, the reason I started to ride him is that he would break and do like he did yesterday. Lately, he kind of got a little speedy with some of the horses of mine and I told Steve, 'Look, especially with this horse, let's slow down a little bit, because mine are going to be up in the forefront of the race anyways.' I said, not just him but the others, but especially this one.'”

Ward has called Golden Pal the best horse he has trained and said that the colt's speed is his greatest asset.

“If he contain it, that makes him a better horse,” Ward said. “Because if you're strictly go-to-the-front type horse, you're a victim of the pace.”

Golden Pal is scheduled to leave Saratoga Sunday for Ward's base of operations at Keeneland. The tentative plan is to prepare him to leave the turf, where he has found so much success, and run in the GII Phoenix S. on dirt Oct. 8 at Keeneland. It is intended as a showcase for breeders that he is effective on turf and dirt. He will go on to attempt a second-straight win in GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint Nov. 5 at Keeneland, which is expected to be his career finale.

However, if all goes well, Ward said that the Coolmore syndicate that owns the colt might run him in Australia to expose him to breeders in the Southern Hemisphere.

Ward was pleased that Golden Pal showed that he had learned his lessons well in the Troy. Though he is accustomed to seeing Golden Pal leading the way in his races, he said he was always confident that the son of Lady Shipman (Midshipman) would catch the leader.

“I was. It was a nail-biter, but for me, I knew the greatness of this horse,” he said. “Take nothing away from the horse that he beat because he ran a really good race, but I knew when they hit that last little bit of the stretch that the greatness was going to come out of him, and it did.”

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‘Graveyard of Favorites’ Strikes Again As Chi Town Lady Sweeps to Test Upset; Matareya 3rd

The 'Graveyard of Favorites' claimed another victim Saturday at Saratoga, as Joel Rosario guided Castleton Lyons' Chi Town Lady (Verrazano) to a last-to-first 17-1 upset of overwhelming favorite Matareya (Pioneerof the Nile) in the GI Longines Test S. at the Spa.

Debuting with a three-length score last April at Keeneland, the chestnut went unseen for over four months, but returned with an impressive conquest of the Bolton Landing S. on turf. That had been her last trip to the winner's circle, however, as she concluded her juvenile campaign with a sixth against males in the GIII Futurity S. and a fourth back on dirt in Keeneland's Myrtlewood S. before running last behind Matareya in the Apr. 10 GIII Beaumont S. in Lexington and second in a Churchill allowance May 19.

Having to be backed out and re-loaded after acting up in the gate Saturday, Chi Town Lady settled at the tail of the field as Hot Peppers (Khozan) ran out to a clear lead and Matareya settled in a clear fifth over the recently-sealed track. Hot Peppers clicked off splits of :22.54 and :45.28, while Matareya slipped through at the rail nearing the lane before switching out in early stretch to challenge the pacesetter.

The outcome appeared a fait accompli approaching the eighth pole as Matareya drew on even terms, but Chi Town Lady was just getting going, and soon emerged as a major threat to the dueling leaders after Matareya had a tougher time than expected putting away Hot Peppers. The three came together and bumped at the sixteenth pole, but the contact was inconsequential, as Chi Town Lady had built up a full head of steam by then and kicked clear late, giving Rosario back-to-back graded wins on the card. A brief inquiry was posted, but no action was taken.

“We got lucky. She had been training great and I was looking at this race after her last race in my mind and gave her a little time because she started coming from behind,” said winning trainer Wesley Ward. “I had Joel work her here a couple of times and she was just working phenomenal. I told the owners we were probably going to be running a 30-1 shot, but I wanted to take one shot from way back and do what she's been asking me to do, which is make a big charge and a big grind. We were hoping for a second or third–a graded placing–to see if the race fell apart, and here we are in the winner's circle. She's come a long ways. I just think that I had to kind of learn to listen to her to where she wanted to go easy the first part and come on late. This will be her running style from now on.”

“They went fast in front and she came with a run. That was an amazing race,” added Rosario. “It looked like they came out a little bit and I ran into them a little bit [in the deep stretch bumping incident], but it looked like they were coming more from the inside. My horse was kind of on the wrong lead at that point and I was correcting her trying to keep her straight. She did great.”

As for the beaten favorite, both trainer Brad Cox and jockey Flavien Prat said Matareya didn't handle the track, sealed after mid-day rain.

“My first thought was I didn't think she was traveling that well down the backstretch,” Cox said. “Flavien thought the same, she wasn't really taking them up there. I thought he did a good thing at the three-eighths pole by dropping her down to the inside. It's probably a sign of her just not getting a hold of the track. No excuse really. I think she's a very good filly. Obviously she showed up on maybe not a favorable surface for her, and she still ran a good race.”

“[The rain] changed the track and she never felt comfortable or happy on it,” Prat concurred. “She broke well and after that she spit the bit right away and I never got myself into a nice rhythm and she was just struggling.”

Pedigree Notes:

With the victory, Chi Town Lady becomes the seventh graded stakes winner and first Stateside top-level winner for 2013 GI Haskell Invitational S. and GI Wood Memorial S. hero Verrazano. Sold from Coolmore to Brazil's Haras Old Friends in 2019, Verrazano was represented by two Group 1 winners in Chile last year. Chi Town Lady is the first black-type performer from four foals to race thus far out of Toni's Hollyday, whose 2-year-old son Quincy Cafe (Mendelssohn) earned his diploma last Sunday at Laurel. Toni's Hollyday also has a yearling Liam's Map colt and foaled a filly by Game Winner this term before being bred to Not This Time.

Saturday, Saratoga
LONGINES TEST S.-GI, $500,000, Saratoga, 8-6, 3yo, f, 7f, 1:23.87, gd.
1–CHI TOWN LADY, 118, f, 3, by Verrazano
                1st Dam: Toni's Hollyday (SP, $119,047), by Harlan's Holiday
                2nd Dam: May Day Vow, by Broken Vow
                3rd Dam: May Day Bluff, by Pine Bluff
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. O-Castleton Lyons; B-Castleton Lyons, Kilboy Estate & Gavin Tierney (KY); T-Wesley A. Ward; J-Joel Rosario. $275,000. Lifetime Record: 7-3-1-0, $417,800. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Hot Peppers, 120, f, 3, by Khozan
                1st Dam: Friends Pro, by Friends Lake
                2nd Dam: Mama's Pro, by Proper Reality
                3rd Dam: Mama Cielo, by Conquistador Cielo
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($40,000 Ylg '20 OBSOCT; $16,000 2yo '21 OBSOPN). O-Michael Dubb and Michael J. Caruso; B-Brent & Crystal Fernung (FL); T-Rudy R. Rodriguez. $100,000.
3–Matareya, 124, f, 3, by Pioneerof the Nile
                1st Dam: Innovative Idea (GSW, $229,343), by Bernardini
                2nd Dam: Golden Velvet, by Seeking the Gold
                3rd Dam: Caress, by Storm Cat
O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. $60,000.
Margins: 1HF, NK, 9 3/4. Odds: 17.00, 6.40, 0.30.
Also Ran: Sterling Silver, Wish You Well, November Rein, Elm Drive.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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