Acapulco (Scat Daddy) exited her win in Saturday's Unbridled Sidney overnight stakes at Churchill in fine shape and is now Royal Ascot-bound, according to trainer Wesley Ward.
“I'm standing in front of her right now and she looks good to me,” Ward said via telephone with the Churchill press office. “She did beautiful and she kind of took the worst of it being on the inside, but the most important thing is that we came out with a win, so confidence-wise we can really push forward on to Royal Ascot. She galloped out strong and came out in good order. She came back tired, which is a good thing. It was her first race since February, but she came out great and gave it 100%.”
Acapulco, who won last year's G2 Queen Mary S. at the Royal Ascot meeting, could start in either the June 14 G1 King's Stand or the June 17 G1 Commonwealth Cup.
“I would certainly lean toward the Commonwealth,” Ward said. “It's straight 3-year-olds and would be the easiest of the two you would think, but the decision lies with Coolmore and whatever decision they want to make. We're excited about her; she's a really great filly.”
Acapulco was given the rest of the year off after finishing second againt older horses in the G1 Coolmore Nunthorpe S. last August. She returned to take an optional claimer at Turfway Feb. 19.
Ward's six-horse Royal Ascot contingent also includes Kentucky Juvenile winner Silvertoni (Tapit).
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
