Ruthin (GB)
The well-established team of Wesley Ward and Irad Ortiz Jr. will joins forces for the upcoming Royal meeting, which begins June 14. Ward, who became the first American-based trainer to saddle a winner at the Royal Ascot in 2009, confirmed that Ortiz will partner all five of his contenders next week. A three-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey in the U.S., the Puerto Rican native will be making is debut at the meet. "He's won all over in America and he's just a phenomenal rider who rides with extreme patience," explained Ward....
Since he won his first ever race at Royal Ascot in 2009, trainer Wesley Ward has attacked the meeting with quantity and quality and the result has been 12 wins. But he says this year's group, which will consist of at least seven horses, is the best he has ever sent overseas for what is the U.K.'s premier race meeting. "I have never been as strong as this," he said. The surprise is that Ward's group of 2-year-olds, usually his strong suit, is not deep. He only has two, 'TDN...
She has waited long enough, it seems, and the time has finally arrived for the rekindling of Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) at Royal Ascot. Denied outings in the Arc, the Breeders' Cup and the Tattersalls Gold Cup, Ballydoyle's G1 1000 Guineas and G1 Epsom Oaks heroine has everything in her favour at last as the sun beats down on the famed Berkshire strip. Successful in her three 3-year-old starts--which also included the G1 Yorkshire Oaks--by a cumulative margin of 18 1/2 lengths, the chestnut lines up against the colts for...
When Napa Spirit (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) won Friday's first race at Keeneland, bloodstock agent Ben McElroy was more relieved than ecstatic. Some six months earlier, he purchased Napa Spirit at the Goffs Orby Yearling sale in Ireland with a set goal in mind. He was looking for a unique type of horse, one that could win in the U.S. and Europe, would be fast and precocious, like the grass and be a good fit for the Royal Ascot meet. Friday's win was the latest sign that he had more...
Ruthin (GB) (f, 2, Ribchester {Ire}--Selinka {GB}, by Selkirk), a 350,000gns TATOCT yearling purchase, kicked off her career with a 'TDN Rising Star' performance sprinting on the Keeneland lawn for Wesley Ward Thursday. The rail-drawn, 3-5 favorite shot out to the front and sped through an opening quarter in :21.91. She let it out a notch approaching the top of the stretch, and, despite racing greenly on her left lead for most of the stretch, was geared down late en route to a flashy, six-length victory over Artos (Ire) (Kodiac...