G1 Prix Morny and G2 Queen Mary S. winner Lady Aurelia (Scat Daddy) has remained in Newmarket to prepare for the G1 Cheveley Park S. Sept. 24.
“She's at the National Stud at the moment, I'm very gracious to my friends there for letting her stay,” said trainer Wesley Ward. “My assistant trainer Frankie Dettori rides her every morning and sends me a video.”
While Lady Aurelia's three-quarter length Morny score was not as visually impressive as her seven-length Queen Mary win, Ward said he has since revised his opinion of the race.
“Initially we were a bit disappointed she didn't explode away and I was making excuses for her saying I'd gone easy,” he said.
“I had, I'd worked her hard for Keeneland where she broke the track record [in her debut Apr. 21], and Ascot, so then she had an easy month.”
Ward noted Lady Aurelia tripped in a hole at Deauville.
“Going to France she'd had just four breezes but she definitely stood in a hole which nearly stopped her dead,” he explained. “When you watch the video back, which I've done many times, you can see between the 200 and 100 that a big cloud of dust explodes. She completely lost her action in front and behind and in the end she still won a Group 1, so we had to be happy.”
Of her prospects for the Cheveley Park, Ward added, “The six furlongs isn't a problem and we're excited about Newmarket. Frankie will breeze her on Sunday, we need to finalise whether it will be on the Rowley Mile or the July Course and I'm hoping my good friend Robert Cowell will provide me with a lead horse.”
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